


#LioFotiaIsAMurderer

by NoWonder



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Angst, British Lio, Galo Needs to give a hug, Healing, I guess???, Lio Needs a Hug, M/M, Past Abuse, Science! (both real & fake), Slow Burn, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:27:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 110,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoWonder/pseuds/NoWonder
Summary: It had been nearly two years since the Second Great World Blaze. This was both a long and short time ago depending on who you asked. It was the duality of opinion that caused Galo to be unsurprised, yet disappointed to see that “#LioFotiaIsAMurderer” was trending on Twitter.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos, Past OC/Lio Fotia
Comments: 118
Kudos: 132





	1. The World Over

It had been nearly two years since the Second Great World Blaze. This was both a long and short time ago depending on who you asked. It was the duality of opinion that caused Galo to be unsurprised, yet disappointed to see that “#LioFotiaIsAMurderer” was trending on Twitter. The young man pursed his lips at his phone, thumb still stuck to his screen where it had stopped mid scroll. Of course prejudice against the Burnish still existed - it was difficult to dispel what was so carefully cultivated for decades. Hell, there were children born and raised within the confines of Burnish hate; people who have gone their entire lives knowing nothing but anti-Burnish propaganda. Lio - who had quickly been shoved into public sight - had withstood the brunt of the pushback. It had been quite some time since the latest conspiracy theory had been dredged up against the boy - long enough that Galo had started to wonder if they had finally ended - and he couldn’t help but be angry on the other’s behalf. 

Well… There were some selfish reasons in there too. He strongly suspects that public opinion has shaped Lio’s decision to keep him at an arm's length. He could practically hear Lio say something ridiculously self-sacrificing like: “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me” or something equally as dumb. Galo had not been shy about his interest in the other man, but Lio danced around his feelings, graceful and teasing, spinning around him endlessly like a bird out of reach. Or a wolf circling its prey, depending on the day. He was thrilled that after months of hard work and charm (and begging) the spiral was finally coming in closer and a dumb little hashtag may be threatening to force the former leader’s orbit out again.

Galo shifted his body on his couch, though his thumb and eyes remained firmly glued on the light blue tag. He needed to get dressed - he had work to go to and nothing good would come from looking through the opinions of people who knew nothing of anything but spoke as if they were experts. It would do nothing but piss him off, he told himself, so he shouldn’t click on it. 

And he didn’t. And he was very proud of that fact until he got to Burning Rescue.

“Did Lio have a boyfriend before?” Remi had asked him five seconds after walking in the break room. No preamble, no small talk. Straight to the point without even looking up from his phone. Galo decided to return the favor and though he faltered a little at the question, he refused to look up from his very important task of pouring coffee into his mug.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “‘Before’ when?”

“If your answer is ‘I don’t know’ then why would the timeline matter?” 

Galo tried his best to keep his scowl from becoming audible.

“I figured he would have talked to you about things like that,” Remi continued. Galo could hear him adjust his glasses, but he still didn’t want to turn and see. Instead he focused on putting the coffee pot back in just the right way so that the handle was in a good spot for easy grabs later.

“He’s an adult. I’m sure he’s been in a relationship or two before,” Galo said matter-of-factly. “Why?”

“Do you not know that he’s trending again?” At this, Galo finally turned around with a deep sigh. 

“ _He’s_ not trending, some lies about him are.” 

Remi looked at him out of the corner of his eye, brow creased in worry. “So you think the photos are fake then?”

Galo paused at that. “What photos?”

Remi opened his mouth to answer but the sound of the break room door slamming open cut him off. Lucia burst through in reverse on a rolling chair, screeching to a halt right before Galo’s toes. 

“Galo! Good to find ya. I got some new tech to test out!” 

Galo gave a weak smile. “Sure, Lucia, that sounds great. Remi was just-” He trailed off once the other man held up his phone for the other to see an image of two people posing in front of some building. Lio smiled brightly in the picture, seemingly mid-laugh as the other squeezed them together with an arm swung around Lio’s small shoulders. “...Who posted that?”

“It was in the tag,” Remi answered before Lucia reached up to snag the screen away. 

“Ohh, yeah, Lio’s ex-lover!” she chimed, happily rolling out of Remi’s reach as he attempted to take back his phone. “You know, I was gonna ignore it, but I bumped into this guy this morning on my way here and he looked like one of those private-eye types outta movies and I got to thinking how interesting it’d be to solve a mystery, so I read all about it this morning. Tough break. Wonder if he’s seen it yet.”

“What do you mean?” Galo asked, eyes following the tiny woman as she rolled around the room, scrolling her way through the phone. A well-timed kick to the wall sent her rocketing away from Remi’s hands. 

“I don’t know, he looked very ‘noir’ with his hat and jacket.”

“No, I mean- what is so mysterious about it?”

“Did you not see the tag?”

“I saw it, but I didn’t look at it. It’s always nothing but bullshit so...”

“Well, not this time from the looks of it.” Lucia chimed. “Though, if I just saw the pics without the explanation I would’ve thought ‘boy and older cousin’ or something - not two people dating. But I guess Lio has always looked like he was twelve.”

“Hey, now…” Galo started. He knew Lio wouldn’t like that very much - even if Galo himself thought it was true on occasions. 

“Oh, please,” Lucia scoffed with a cackle. “It’s not like I can’t relate to that myself- Ah! Found it!” A quick swat and wave of her hand batted away Remi’s as she read a tweet aloud, mimicking a falsetto unbecoming of most human beings. “My name is Aleka. Ellias was my brother. Before he became known as the Burnish terrorist, I knew Lio Fotia as my brother’s boyfriend. For years they dated and were happy. They lived together and my brother was so in love. I can’t imagine what he went through the night he was murdered by the love of his life. My brother was burned alive and he never got justice - Lio Fotia has never paid for his crimes.” 

“All that in one tweet?” Galo queried as Remi finally managed to snatch back his phone.

Once she was finished playfully sticking her tongue out at the vice captain, Lucia replied. “Well, the tweet itself was just hashtag: ‘Lio-Fotia-is-a-murderer,’ but it included a screenshot of Notepad or something. Plus, she tweeted out a bunch of pics of Lio and this Ellias guy as proof so the story’s picked up pretty fast.”

Galo’s eyes went downcast, troubled by the news. “But… it’s not true, right? Lio would never…”

“If it is true, he probably didn’t do it on purpose, “ Remi offered. Galo looked up, and though the taller was still shielding his phone from Lucia and his face was pinched in a disgruntled frown, he was looking at Galo with just enough concern to be noticeable to his teammate. “You know how it was when Burnish awoke. If anything happened, it was likely a complete accident.”

Galo was horrified at the implication. “Oh god, do you think so? Do you think Lio Flared and his boyfriend got caught in the crossfire?”

“Quite the tragic backstory,” Lucia remarked, rolling out in front of him. “Seems fitting for someone like Lio. Why don’t you ask him?”

Galo sucked in a breath through his teeth. “I don’t know… ‘Hey, did you accidently kill your ex?’ That’s kinda a personal question to ask somebody.”

“Sure it is! But you know, his personal business is already real impersonal now that it's accessible to anyone with a phone or working computer.”

“I guess that’s true…” he said, hand rubbing at his neck anxiously.

“Think of it this way: how are you gonna defend Lio from these people if you don’t first hear the truth from Lio himself?”

“Lio is perfectly capable of handling himself,” Galo mumbled. “I’m not gonna ‘defend’ him against a bunch of strangers online.”

“...Anymore,” Remi added on, causing the other man to suddenly grow flushed.

“I-I promised Lio I wouldn’t!” he protested. 

“Ha! You acted like such a simp,” Lucia cackled. Galo ignored her in favor of typing away a message to the former Burnish asking if he was free tonight for dinner at his place.

“I believe what he was doing actually classifies as being a ‘white knight,’” Remi corrected. 

Lucia shot something teasing back, but Galo barely had time to chime back into their argument when his phone pinged and Lio’s message appeared on screen.

“Is this about the twitter thing”

He cursed under his breath. He typed out “What twitter thing?” before quickly erasing it. He wasn’t very good at lying and Lio was _very_ good at staring him down with a cruel, unflinching gaze when he suspected a fib, making Galo squirm until he broke.

“Cant i just want to eat dinner with u?? ^v^;;” is what he went with instead. He put an emoji at the end to make sure he didn’t sound accusatory. After all, Lio was not completely off base, but he _did_ want to spend time with the young man just the same as usual. 

The reply back was almost instantaneous: “We can talk about it but don’t try to make small talk for 30 minutes beforehand as if you don’t really want to know”. This message was trailed behind by another a few seconds later. “Sorry that sounded mean. I’d just rather get right into it”

Despite his worried mood, Galo chuckled to himself at the apology. He had long since gotten used to Lio’s cut-and-dry manner of communicating, but someone must’ve said something to him. 

The firefighter was vaguely aware of his teammates’ discussion growing in volume as he texted back. “Lol its fine no offense taken. :) Would u rather meet sooner then? For lunch?”

“No,” came the reply. “Dinner is fine. I’ll come over to your place after your shift.”

“Ok. Any requests for food?”

“No. Anything is fine.” Galo frowned at that. Lio wasn’t picky by any means, but after spending several shared meals together where he personally bore witness to Galo’s habit of “shoveling in the same pattern of balanced garbage” (Lio’s words, not his) down his throat, Lio made a point to choose what they ate together to introduce “variety” (again, Lio’s words - which Galo thought was rich coming from someone who he caught with bags full of processed crap the second time they met). 

“He must be worried…” he spoke to himself right before his skull rang with a painful _twack_. His hand flew to clutch at his head, sharply spinning around to see where the attack came from. Lucia looked guilty, but swiftly placed the blame on their teammate.

“Remi threw his phone.”

“Because _you_ kept trying to grab it!” he shot back. “It _slipped._ ”

“Well! Do you want to look up these definitions or not?”

“Look them up on your own phone!” 

A gruff voice interrupted and the three snapped their attention to their captain. Ignis stood, arms crossed in the doorway. “Team meeting,” he said, turning away right after. He left no room for argument or explanation, but that was how the captain operated. Burning Rescue trusted his judgements enough to respect that, but Remi and Galo shared a nervous look regardless. It was unusual to have an unscheduled meeting so suddenly - especially since everything has been relatively peaceful since they had been downgraded to normal fire-watch.

\---

A door creaked behind him and Lio’s pen stilled. 

“Hey, Boss…?”

Lio sighed. “For the last time, Gueira, I am _not_ mad at you, that is _just_ how I text.”

“It’s not that,” the other man huffed. Lio had been working on a draft for an upcoming proposal since the middle of last night - he was on a roll and he wanted to finish. Hardly in the mood for interruptions, he turned only slightly to look at Gueira, poking his head around his door.

Lio’s frown deepened. It was unlike his former general to act so diffident. “What is it then?”

Gueira made a variety of strained facial expressions at the ceiling. He had his mouth open, but the only thing that came out was a drawn out _auuuhhhmm_.

“You’re trending again.” he heard Meis call out from their shared living room. 

“What? Again?” Lio groaned. His pen finally thrown to his paper, work abandoned. “What is it this time? Did I tell the surgeon general to fuck off to Mars? Sneeze in the direction of a sacred chinchilla? Actually-!” he held up his hand before Gueira could reply. “I don’t want to know! Each thing is more ridiculous than the next. I don’t even want to hear it!”

“You are gonna wanna hear this one, Boss.” the red-head insisted. He leaned against the door and gestured into the apartment’s living room. Lio could see Meis on the couch, craning his neck to see inside his room. 

“Why?” he asked with a glare.

Gueira returned the favor with the addition of a finger jabbed in his direction. “Don’t make me pick you up and bring you in there.” Lio could hear Meis sigh and mutter something under his breath.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Gueira gave him a resolved look, rolled his shoulders, and marched on to call his bluff. 

“Asshole!” Lio spat. He grabbed under his seat and locked his ankles around the base of his rolling chair to fend off the taller’s strong tugging. “I have work to do! Leave me alone!”

“You’ve gotten rusty, Boss,” Gueira remarked. “This is now an easy victory!” Lio barely had time to register the man’s hands on his backrest before he was whipped out through the door. Mere seconds later, the wheels caught on the rug and Lio crashed in a heap next to the coffee table.

Meis looked down upon him, exasperated. “You two,” he began with a deep sigh, “are exhausting.”

“I got him in here, didn’t I?” Gueira shouted. His volume was way too loud considering his proximity, which is a fact Meis tiredly pointed out to him.

“I am _working_ ,” Lio repeated bitterly. He supposed he wasn’t at all intimidating from his spot splayed out on the floor, but he was determined to continue his attempted act of unmovable defiance. 

“You’ve been working since forever,” Gueira bemoaned, nearly whining as he hopped over the couch to settle in close to Meis.

 _‘Exaggerated as always,’_ Lio thought, rolling his eyes.

“You are in desperate need of a lay. _Ow-!_ ”

Lio’s eyes flicked up toward his two generals. 

“ _Idiot._ ” Meis hissed. Gueira, rubbing at his ankle, suddenly looked very sheepish. 

Lio sat up, slowly becoming aware of a growing tense atmosphere in the room as silence spread out between them. “What is going on here?” When neither of the two responded immediately he asked again. “Did something happen?”

“Well,” Meis paused to clear his throat. “This girl got on Twitter and it’s kind of… concerning...”

“What girl?”

“Uh-” Gueira nudged the other and held up his phone for reference. “Her name is Aleka.”

“Aleka?” Lio echoed. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion for a beat before his brain placed the name and his expression fell. “Oh.”

“Yeah...”

“...What-” Lio shifted his position, suddenly finding the way he had been sitting far too uncomfortable. It didn’t help. “What did she say?”

“She called you a murderer.”

“Ah.” Gueira, slouched up against the Meis, tapped against his phone case. It was an unconscious habit, but it drew Lio’s attention. “Let me see,” he said, reaching out for the device. Much to his surprise, Gueira reacted by pulling it closer to him.

“That’s not a good idea, Boss,” he quickly explained.

“Why? What else did she say?”

“She also posted some pictures,” Meis revealed. His tone was placid, but both of his hands were out now, palms pushing downwards softly as if he was trying to calm an animal. Lio hadn’t even noticed he had rose to a stand until then, looming over the coffee table at them. 

“What kind of pictures?”

“We just don’t want you to get stressed out, Boss.”

“I’m not stressed!” Lio insisted, sounding quite stressed. The way his voice strained ever so slightly had the two other men sharing a concerned, skeptical look. “Let me see what she said!” Once more, he held his hand out. When neither budged, he continued with a huff. “If you don’t show me I’ll just go and look it up myself.” 

“I’ll hold the phone up and you can read it,” Gueira asserted. Lio’s arm fell to his side and his body pitched in frustration.

“Why?” he asked, agitated.

“Because we don’t want you scrolling through the replies.”

“Why?” Lio repeated, tone moving into upset. 

“Because they’re mean!” He stared at the red-head, insulted.

“They get really personal, Boss,” Meis explained.

“And you think I can’t handle that?”

“This is different.” 

Lio groaned at that, pinching the bridge of his nose to dispel a headache he felt coming on. 

“Fine. Whatever. Hold it up.” Gueira complied and held the screen at an arm’s length for Lio to lean over and read. The former Burnish watched their leader carefully, but his expression stayed in the realm of stony annoyance as he read through the small speech. He instructed Gueira to scroll down only once and it was only when he reached the end did his face twist firmly into a scowl. “That bitch.”

\---

“As some of you may already be aware, there is a gathering of people outside the station right now.” The blank, confused stares from his seated crew told Ignis that they were, in fact, not aware. “It is important,” he continued, directing his sunglass-covered gaze to Galo, “that we do not interact with them. It will not help anyone if we

“Why are they here?” Aina asked.

Ignis moved his attention to her, shifting on his feet from his spot standing at the head of the table. “They are under the impression that Fotia is here and they are demanding to speak with him.”

“But he’s not here,” Aina pointed out with a skeptical grimace. 

“They have been informed of that, but I suppose they don’t believe it.”

“Great…”

“What are people pissed at him for this time?” Varys queried.

“He’s trending again,” Aina told him. “Twitter.”

As Vayrs pulled out his phone to investigate, the captain went on. “Just go about your jobs as normal and by the end of the day everything should be fine.”

Unfortunately, things were not fine. 

Not even an hour later and a couple sets of news crews had shown up to report on the protest, which only served to rile the crowd up with each passing hour to the point where they could now hear them from inside the station. Galo was pretty positive that they did not have megaphones when they started but they sure did have them now.

“I’m not saying that they _shouldn’t_ be able to protest if they want to,” he said to Vayrs, squinting at the basketball hoop. Galo found it harder to aim with the faint roar of people outside distracting him. “But Lio isn’t even here, first of all, and second of all, they have no proof that he even did anything! All they have is that Lio went on at least a few dates with some guy who happens to be dead now.” The basketball left his grasp and _twanged_ off the rim. “Damnit.”

“If that,” Vayrs remarked, tossing him another ball. “Have you seen the pictures?”

“No,” he admits. “Well, Remi showed me a few, but I don’t know if that was all of them or only some.” 

Varys hums, watching the shorter spin the ball idly in his hands. “Well, they appear close in them, I’ll say that, but hardly lovey-dovey. More domestic than anything I’d expect of pics I’d think a couple would take.”

“What kind of pictures would a couple take?” Galo asks. This time, when he shoots, it swishes in.

“You know, like pictures of their hands laced together or in romantic settings like sunset beaches…” Varys shrugs. “Maybe modern Instagram has ruined my perception, but I would think there would be at least one picture of a smooch on the cheek or something.”

“So, what? Do you think maybe they weren’t dating at all?”

“Maybe, if we want to look at the best case scenario, the dude is actually a relative or a friend or something and this girl is twisting things to try and get something out of Lio.” Galo tossed the man the ball. 

“I guess that could be possible too,” he said, unable to stop the small smile from forming.

“Hey, how old is Lio now?”

Galo blinked. “Twenty-five. Why?”

“Just curious,” Vayrs answered. He lobbed the ball in a perfect arch - as always. “I was trying to figure out the timeline in my head for that girl’s claims and it doesn’t really add up.” With a grin to his friend he added: “Sounds like it’s likely bullshit. So don’t worry so much.”

Galo nodded resolutely, spirits lifted considerably. “I’m sure Lio will clear this all up tonight.”

“Ask him where he found the Fountain of Youth while you’re at it!” The laugh of the bigger man was booming and Galo couldn’t help but feel even better in its presence. “I thought maybe he looked like that cause he was Burnish and they heal up practically everything. Kept him young lookin’. Now that I know he’s always looked like that, I’m deadass jealous.” Another shot at basket, another goal. “Man, I’d kill to not have to worry about these damn crows feet I’m getting.”

“Well, I’m jealous of you! I want your hands.”

Vayrs’ laughs again. “My hands?!”

“Of course!” To demonstrate, Galo scoops up the basketball. “What takes me two hands to handle only takes you one!”

“And what use is that?” Vayrs shakes his head. “Trust me, man. You don’t want my body type - it’s hell trying to find anything to fit into. Clothes, doors, a bed…”

“Yeah well, if I had your hands I could say shit like _‘they call me handsome cause I got_ some _hands._ ’”

His friend shakes his head with a wry smile. “Have you been trying those lines out on Lio?”

“Yeah, but it’s not working out so great,” Galo replied. His smile hadn’t faded, but his shoulders slumped. 

“I wonder why.”

Galo opened his mouth to defend himself, to say that he knew the line was dumb but he had hoped that maybe the ‘dumb humor’ angle would be something Lio would be into, but he was interrupt by a surging of voices. 

The room stopped, as the distant voices of anger suddenly didn’t sound so distant anymore. Even Aina could hear them through her music and looked up. 

“Are they inside?” she asked, bewildered. The group hustled to a set of double doors leading out to the garage. If one were to go through it, they would find themselves on an elevated catwalk, set above the concrete floor by about two meters that wrapped around the room so that the team had easy access to the various parts and entrances on their equipment and vehicles. This proved to be more of a hindrance at first as one such Burning Rescue truck was parked directly in front, blocking their view from whatever commotion was happening as they all attempted to peek out. Once they heard Ignis’ calm yet commanding voice, however, they crept out onto the metal walkway and peered over the truck.

“Inside of this building is private property,” the team heard bouncing off the garage walls. Ignis’ back was to his crew’s lookout point, but the captain knew how to make sure he was heard from any point. The crowd of people was trying to duck their way under one of the garage doors and a small gathering had already made it through, with only Ignis at the helm to impede them. “You are not permitted to be in here. Leave now.”

A female voice replied, though she was hidden from Burning Rescue by their boss. Her tone was biting, but too low to understand what she said. 

“Outside is public property and you are free to do that. Once you enter this building it becomes private property and no longer permitted.”

The other voice was in the middle of her response when someone shrill with a megaphone interrupted, “WE DEMAND FOTIA SPEAK FOR HIS CRIMES!” This declaration was met with an enraged cheer and Galo could briefly see someone directly in front of the captain turn around and wave their arms at the crowd.

“They must’ve pried that door up and open with a picket sign or something,” Lucia hummed. 

“Or they yanked up a stop sign,” Aina muttered.

“I’m calling the police,” Remi sighed.

“By the time they get here Cap. will probably have them all dispersed,” Vayrs pointed out.

“Yeah, but we should still file a report.” 

Vayrs nodded, and as Remi turned away back to the break room he was able to get a clear view of Galo at the opposite of their line-up. He saw his jaw clench at another blast from a megaphone. “Galo, don’t-”

The young man had already heaved himself off the catwalk, his feet making a heavy clap against the smooth concrete. The crowd was well aware of his existence before he even began his march to the other end of the garage and started yelling out too many things to comprehend. Ignis merely turned his head to acknowledge his approach, but waited until he was beside him to speak.

“Galo, go back inside.” It was a statement merely for propriety - he knew it wouldn't be that easy to turn him back when he got that determined glint in his eye.

“Lio is not here!” Galo called out over the crowd. “And you yelling about him will not change that fact! Go away!” 

“Liar!” The word came out so unexpectedly close to him that Galo almost jumped. A woman stepped out from around the sturdy form of the captain to face her new target. 

Galo thought she looked tired. The shadows under her eyes weren’t heavy in the way that dark circles tended to be when they sagged on people’s faces, but they were dark and deep set. Galo wondered if it was genetic or if she hadn’t been sleeping at all for an extended time. 

The thought of genetics brought up a thought in Galo, so he asked: “Are you Aleka?”

“I am.” she answered strongly. Her features were so soft and rounded that the anger in her voice barely made a crease in her forehead, but Galo could see it in her sharp eyes and he felt himself falter a bit. This was not at all how he had pictured Lio’s assailant to be. 

He had wanted her to be an unseemly woman who would stand on her toes to shriek in an entitled tone, with gaunt cheeks hollowed out from too many fad diets and a hideously outdated haircut, box-colored in patches at home.

But Aleka was none of these things. 

She was old - Well, older than him, but younger than what the captain probably was. In her thirties, if Galo had to guess (and this, to the man who had only just turned twenty-four, was old), but she was pretty. Her eyes were bright, but hardened. She was Lio’s height and looked up at Galo with the same indifference to that fact. Her voice was not sharp - it did not sound like the grinding nor scraping of metal - rather like a ringing of a railroad crossing from afar. It was unobtrusive, tractable even, but warning. 

“Who the hell are you,” she had demanded of him and Galo at first did not know in what manner to answer. It was so much easier to argue with the image of the misleader in his head than the person in front of him who seemed honestly upset.

“My- I work here,” he said finally, avoiding his name for now. “I am a part of Burning Rescue and Lio is not here.”

“That a lie,” she repeated. “You know that job offers for public service positions have to be filed through the local government office, yes? And that anyone could get that information if requested?”

“Fotia was offered a position here but turned it down,” Ignis spoke evenly, as the woman turned to glare. “He is not employed here and thus is not here currently nor is he expected to be here anytime in the future.” 

“Yeah!” Galo added helpfully. “So take your nonsense elsewhere!”

Aleka turned back to him, glowering. “Nonsense?” she hissed. “He killed my brother.”

Galo glowered right back. “Lio would never do that.” Her frown deepened, but she spun on her heels the very next moment and faced the crowd. 

Someone from the mob handed her a megaphone. “Everyone! Outside. We will convene at a later date.” Handing back the device she looked over her shoulder at the pair. “This isn’t over. Not at all.”

Galo rolled his eyes. “Okay, lady.” Every new upset surrounding Lio was over faster than the last, and gained less and less following with every new lie. This was a trend Galo took great comfort in.

\---

Lio had let himself into Galo’s apartment (“if you won’t accept my offer to put a roof over your head, at least take a key!” he had told him). The open concept of the place meant that Galo knew the moment he arrived and appeared in front of him before Lio even had a chance to shrug off his jacket.

“Hey!” the chipper man greeted. “You’re here!”

“I am. Are you cooking?” 

Galo looked himself up and down in response, spatula in hand and bright pink apron draped over him. If Lio squinted, he could make out some of the fading text of something clever written on it. He couldn’t remember what it said anymore nor what color it was supposed to be. It seems like forever ago that Lio ruined it while trying to re-learn how to do laundry in a machine. 

“No, I just like to dress like this for fun,” Galo quipped with a smile. “I’m making pancakes and bacon.”

“For… dinner?” Lio asked, trailing behind into the kitchen.

“Yes, for dinner!” he tossed over his shoulder. “I know how you like your sweets, but I wasn’t about to serve you a cake as a meal.” 

Galo thought he heard Lio mumble something along the lines of “I don’t like sweets _that_ much” or some other embarrassed lie, but he chose to let it slide instead of starting up their usual teasing banter. 

“How was your day?” he asked instead and was met with stony silence. When he turned away from his latest pancake he saw the shorter man glaring at him from his perch on a bar stool.

“What did I say about small talk?”

“Wha- It’s not small talk, really…” Galo explained sheepishly. “I really do want to know…. You know… with all this… stuff, happening…”

Lio sighed, scowl relaxing. “It was fine. Until I was told about ‘all this stuff.’”

“Ah.”

“And then I saw Burning Rescue on the news,” Lio said pointedly. “That certainly didn’t make me feel any better.”

“Ah…” Galo repeated. “Sorry…”

Lio shrugged. “She had a whole horde of people, I saw. Why was she even there?” Then, cautiously he added: “For you?”

“No, no,” Galo said hurriedly. “She thought you worked there. Got record of your job offer through the public offices or something.”

“Did you...talk to her?”

“Yeah, but only ‘cause her and, like, a third of the crowd broke into the place and the Cap and I had to tell them all to leave.”

Lio’s brow creased in worry at the information, but it didn’t match his jesting tone. “Did you _and_ Ignis have to tell them to leave or did Ignis tell them to leave and you joined in uninvited?”

“You know me too well,” Galo laughed. “I _know_ you told me not to defend you like that anymore, but I couldn’t help it! They wouldn’t go away!”

“No, it’s fine. It wasn’t just about me, your place of employment was involved too.” After Galo set a plate of food and some silverware in front of him Lio said a small “Thanks.” Galo wasn’t sure if the gratitude was for the food or his actions earlier that day. By the time he had served his own plate to the kitchen island, Lio had begun nibbling on his food.

“You’re so cute when you do that,” Galo said sweetly. 

Normally, Lio would huff and pout and insist that “cute” was not a word to describe him, but all he offered back this time was a half-a-second smile and just as brief eye contact. 

Galo frowned. “You know, if you don’t want to talk about this now, it’s totally okay-”

“No, I need to,” Lio interrupted. 

“You don’t _need_ to do anything for my sake if it’s gonna make you uncomfortable,” Galo insisted.

“Yes, I do,” he insisted back. “It’s important that you know.”

“But, do you _want_ me to know?”

Lio paused for a bit, thinking it over. “Yes,” he answered resolutely. 

“Okay so…” Galo thought maybe he could wait until they at least finished dinner. He hadn’t even touched his own food yet, but he was mostly worried about the ever scrawny Lio across from him that was still only nibbling on the same strip of bacon like a carnivorous rabbit. 

However, Lio did make a point that he didn’t want to tip-toe around the issue, and, as direct as Lio tended to be, he doubted that it was said to spare Galo’s feelings or anything. So, to respect his wishes, Galo supposed the best course of action was to just jump right in. “So, what really happened then?”

Lio looked up at that. “What do you mean?”

“Like... This Aleka person was saying that you were dating her brother and you… I don’t know, killed him? She called you a murderer. So why don’t you start by telling me what really happened?”

Lio blinked owlishly at him. If Galo didn’t know any better, he’d say he looked confused. “That is what really happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “-and I would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those pesky tweets!” - Lio, probably.
> 
> \---
> 
> Hello and welcome and thanks for reading and all that jazz.  
> This thing is longer than The Hobbit and - hopefully - as closely resembling the feeling of getting punched in the gut as possible so I hope y’all are ready.


	2. Dolores Hayes

Galo had to admit, he wasn’t a huge fan of that news. In fact, he was pretty sure Lio had misunderstood what he was asking. 

“No, I mean, what-” he tried to explain. “Okay, what _part_ of that, is what ‘actually happened,’ exactly?”

“What do you mean?” Lio asked for the second time. “All of it. It’s all true.”

Galo sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “So you and this guy were dating.”

“Yes.”

“And this Aleka chick is that guy’s sister.”

“Yes.”

“And you killed him?”

The sudden swallow Galo saw Lio do looked a bit painful. “Yes.”

“But, like, not on purpose, right?”

“No, it was very much on purpose.”

Galo puffed out air through his mouth as he ran his hands up through his hair. The other man’s nonchalant attitude was getting him a bit flustered. “You are gonna need to help me out here, Lio, Cause _I_ thought you said ‘Bunish don’t kill people.’ I remember you being _very_ clear about that.”

“Without _reason._ ” Lio corrected. “Burnish don’t kill without reason. I had a reason.”

“Okay, so?” Galo’s hands fluttered uselessly in front of him. “What? Was the reason?”

“He was an abusive fuck.” Lio answered simply and under other circumstances Galo might have been horrified, but he found himself feeling nothing but strange relief.

 _‘I’ll unpack that later,’_ he thought, before speaking once more. “So, it was self-defense?”

Lio’s face pulled into an unsure grimace. 

“Okay! Cause! I thought! That maybe you _became_ Burnish, and this guy got caught up in the flames, or something!”

“You know, people don’t give you enough credit, Galo,” Lio spoke, spearing a bit of pancake. “I did become Burnish at that moment.” 

Galo decided to not mention that it wasn’t him that came up with the theory. At least, not right now, when there were more pressing matters. Like how his romantic interest was talking about burning his ex to a crisp with the same cadence one talks about cloudy weather.

“So.. what? Was he like… attacking you?”

Lio looked up once more, but the concern in Galo’s eyes made him unable to keep his gaze for too long. “Look, I-” he started. “He was. And I was pretty sure he was going to kill me this time-” Lio did not miss the subtle change in Galo’s expression at that statement. “-and I _did_ become Burnish, as a result. But, all it did was knock him off of me. I remember thinking how I wish I was stronger and the next thing I know there’s fire everywhere, but- but it was just a blast. It’s not like the whole place went up in flames right away. He was hurt, I think, but he wasn’t dead. ...But I wanted him to be.” Another stab to his plate. “And then he was.”

The two were silent for a moment. Lio refused to meet Galo’s eye, fiddling with his earring, so he knew he had to be the first to speak.

“Lio, that still sounds like self-defense.”

“No! It’s-!” Galo found himself drawing his body back as Lio’s demeanor shifted from indifferent to agitated. “If I had knocked him back and ran off, _that_ would’ve been self-defense. If you stab someone to get them away from you, _that’s_ self-defense, but if you continue stabbing them, that’s _overkill!_ ”

Galo had both his hands up by the time Lio gave him a chance to speak. “Woah. Okay. Clearly this has upset you-”

“I’m not upset!” he hissed.

“Okay, okay, sure. You are not upset. That’s fine,” he reassured. “But this is still a sensitive subject, so-”

“I am _not_ sensitive!” 

“I didn’t say you were!” Galo protested, leaning even further back. “I said the subject was! It would be for anybody!”

Lio relaxed a bit at that, finding himself sitting back down in the stool he had risen from without knowing. “Yes, it would be,” he muttered.

“Right. But let me ask you this: if someone else told you that this happened to them, would you say that they were a murderer?”

Lio tapped his plate with his fork, eyebrows furrowed. “That’s different. There’s a lot more nuance to this.”

“Okay, so tell me about it.” When Lio didn’t reply for a solid minute, Galo once again told him that he didn’t have to talk if he didn’t want to.

“I want to!” was all Lio said.

“Here, lets’-” The taller was admittedly getting more than a little frustrated with the back and forth. It was not unusual for the former Burnish to be more conservative with information - especially of the personal variety - or even stubborn. The latter was something the pair had in common, and they both had the tendency to meet criticism with a “watch me do it anyways” attitude (Lio was just a lot more “fuck you” about it), but neither one of them was hypocritical. Their words always matched their actions, so Galo had been prepared for a fight. 

He had been prepared to pry for information in a lengthy tug of war and he had been psyching himself up all day to help Lio figure out a way to clear his name and get the truth out there. He had not been prepared for Lio's brand new tactic of opening up his own doors dramatically, confirming all allegations, and rushing back inside himself only to declare that he was still very willing to be outside with Galo, despite the fact that he very much was not.

He was woefully unprepared and simply did not know how to react. This fact dug at his mood, so he chose to keep quiet for a bit. He steepled his hands in front of his mouth and observed. He was working on thinking about what he said before he said it - working on “growing up” and not railroading over other people in conversations, but it was hard. 

Galo did not like seeming inconsiderate, and he really didn’t feel that he was, but being the literal “hero of the world” forced him into a limelight of praise and a whole new world of scrutiny. He learned very, very quickly that his actions would not affect just him, his intentions were almost always invisible, and even the smallest word could be twisted with the right (or rather, wrong) mindset. After those lessons were put on display on a much larger and louder scale than average, he was trying as hard as he could and he was making a quick turnaround.

Still, he struggled. A lot. As Ignis liked to point out, Galo was still “just a kid.” As much as Galo wanted to say something eloquent and measured that would put Lio at ease, he couldn’t. He not only had no idea what to say, but his want to be loud was nearly overpowering. He wanted to grab Lio and tell him that his opinion on events was, frankly, _bullshit_ and he was positive that even if he heard all these so-called “nuances” he was sure his mind wouldn’t change. A bitter part of him also wanted to point out with a snap that he can’t even have “nuances” change his mind if Lio wouldn’t tell him what they were.

He wanted to. But he wouldn’t. So he bit his tongue and crossly stared at the other, determined to keep quiet for as long as necessary until he no longer felt that he’d slip-up as soon as he opened his mouth. Lio didn’t seem to notice his staring, too busy doing an angry stare-down of his own at his plate. 

_‘Mint hair, black shirt,’_ Galo listed as a distraction. _‘Perfect eyes, curled shoulders.’_ The thought made him stop. Lio was indeed hunched over, curled into himself. _‘Elbows tucked in, I can tell from how he’s sitting that his legs are crossed, chin down…’_ One arm was propped up on the counter, gripping his fork, and while the other disappeared out of Galo’s view, both were close to his body. 

“Lio,” he said gently.

“What.”

“Look at me.” 

The only indication that Lio had heard him was a slight twitch in his expression and the narrowing of his eyes. It took a while, but he eventually flicked his gaze upwards and met Galo head on for about 3 seconds before looking away.

Galo’s expression fell, dismayed. This wasn’t the Lio he knew, who could walk into any room and have people believing he owned the place. The Lio before him was guarded, but not in the usual, challenging manner that dared anyone to underestimate him. This Lio did not want to be seen at all. 

“Lio, I’m not- I’m not _mad_ at you, you know? I still really like you.” The sound of Lio’s tapping foot against the stool ceased.

“...Okay,” he replied slowly. “I mean… Okay.”

 _‘Lio is right, there is something else going on here,’_ Galo concluded. _‘Still pretty sure it’s not “murdurer nuances” but there’s definitely something he’s not telling me.’_

“Look, why don’t we go into the living room. A bit more comfortable in there, right?” Then, in an attempt to be a bit light-hearted, he stretched his back to make it pop. “And a bit more back-support too.”

“You haven’t even eaten yet,” Lio pointed out, eyeing his food. 

“I know but that can wait.”

Wrong answer. Galo could see the Burnish-on-the-run come out in Lio the moment the words left his lips. “You shouldn’t waste food.”

“I’m not wasting it-! Would it make you feel better if I took it with me and ate it on the couch?”

Lio made a face. “You’ll get syrup on your furniture.”

“Well, then I’ll put it in the fridge and eat it later.”

“How long is later? Later tonight or tomorrow? You shouldn’t skip meals if you can help it-”

“Look, you can’t have it both ways, Lio,” Galo groaned, frustration finding its way into his tone before he could stop himself. “Either I leave the food here, or I take it with me into the living room.”

“I’m not the one who said I wanted to go into the living room,” Lio said pointedly.

“Do you _want_ to stay here then?”

At first, the smaller man said nothing, before suddenly spinning on the barstool and heading off, arms crossed. Galo sighed, exasperated, but followed after him.

Lio made a beeline for the single chair with big armrests. Galo knew he should’ve expected that he would want space, but he couldn’t deny the sting. He had hoped that they could share the couch together.

 _‘Ah man,’_ he thought. _‘I have no idea what it’s gonna be like between us after this.’_ Hearing Lio’s voice roused him out of his head.

“What? Say again?”

Lio huffed, but obliged. “I _said:_ I met him back at home.” He looked at Galo, fully now, without hesitation. “Ellias. He was studying abroad.”

“...Okay.” Progress. This was good! “Uh, abroad? Where is home, exactly?” Lio waited for him to fall into the couch to get settled before answering.

“England.”

“England?” he parroted. “You’re English?”

Despite the tension from before, Lio found himself snickering. “Did you think I was a Yank like you?”

“How was I supposta to know? You don’t even sound British!”

“Oh?” Lio replied, amused. “And what does a British person sound like?” Galo thought it over, stuck his pinky out and took a deep breath- “Stop. I changed my mind. I don’t want to know.” After the taller man exhaled, the hand he had stretched out to stop him fell, and Lio continued on. “I started talking with an accent after I went on the run, to make blending in easier. It’s practically muscle memory now at this point, though; I don’t even need to think about it.”

“So, this isn’t really your voice?”

“Well… No, it is. Like I said, it’s like muscle memory,” Lio explained. “I suppose I am putting in an effort to change the way I speak, but it’s a completely unconscious one.”

“Does that mean you can’t speak like you used to anymore?”

“Galo, I am _positive_ you’ve heard me say _bloody hell_ before!” Lio laughed. Galo couldn’t help but feel lighter seeing the other’s whole posture unwind. 

“I thought you were just being funny!” he exclaimed, only to be met with another laugh. “Say something now.”

“Like what?” Lio questioned. With an elbow against the armrest, he let his head fall into his hand. He stared down at the other with a smirk, playful. 

“I don’t know, anything? Can you switch back to it or…?”

“Oh, I suppose I could. It’s not like I’ve really tried it before though.” He paused, then: “Ah, let’s see, um… Hello, Galo.” Galo absolutely shrieked, which was met with a burst of laughter. “What’s the matter now, hm? You got exactly what you wished for!”

“You sound like a Harry Potter character!” Galo yelled. “Oh my god, that’s amazing. You sound so cool!”

Lio rolled his eyes. “Right. Please.”

“You do!” Galo said, before his excitement suddenly died down. “Why aren’t you talking like that all the time? Why are you still putting on a voice?”

“I am not ‘putting on a voice,’ Galo. It’s simply how I’m used to talking to you all. You have a certain way you talk to people you rescue, haven’t you noticed?”

Galo admitted that he was vaguely aware of this.

“It’s instinct, isn’t it? You don’t have to think about it? To the point where you would have to make more of an effort to speak as you normally do, correct?”

Galo agreed that made sense and Lio nodded, satisfied.

“It’s purely situational. And besides,” he cleared his throat. “I- Ah, it’s not really who I am anymore.”

He gave Galo a small smile, but the other found that it looked a bit sad.

“Do you miss it?” he asked.

“Hm?”

“England. Do you miss it?”

“Oh… No.” Lio looked to his fiddling hands with a pleasantly weary expression. “I don’t have very fond associations with home, unfortunately.” A deep sigh, then, “Mostly that of expectation and… disappointment.

“My parents were not unaccepting, really. They were fine, and supportive even, of other people living their lives, but they were… traditional, I would say. They cared a lot about their own image and ‘the family name’ and things like that. Everyone in the family line had a plan to follow and I was no different. I was expected to get educated, get married, have children- a born _heir,_ rather…” He trailed off.

“And you… didn’t want any of those things…” Galo offered. “Because you’re...”

“Yeah.” The confirmation hung in the air between them. “And they knew. I told them. I had told them that I wouldn’t be able to do the things they expected of me and why, but they… dismissed it? In a way?” Lio’s brow furrowed as he recalled the experience. “They treated it like it was a joke, almost. Or like they never heard it or they forgot. They kept saying things to me in the most mundane ways. My father would jokingly hold the phone out when my mother would call and let her talk endlessly and turn to me and say ‘once you have a wife, you’ll know’ or my mother would lecture me and say ‘when you have kids of your own, you’ll understand.’ It was small things, but it was constant and no matter what I said it was ignored.

“I didn’t have anyone to turn to. I was basically sent to school and then to a variety of lessons and then back home again. I didn’t have very many opportunities to do anything or meet anyone that wasn’t arranged for me. I felt like I didn’t have a choice in anything. It was like I was slowly being ground down into something more manageable, something that everyone wanted me to be and I didn’t have a say in the matter.” He paused, eyes scanning the floor for something Galo couldn’t see. “Then I met Ellias. And he was _so_ nice to me.”

This puzzled Galo, but he did not interrupt. 

“He was kind, and attractive, and he listened to me. He was forward and direct, and so very different from anyone I had ever met before, and-” Lio stopped, and looked at Galo. His eyes burned through the other’s, his jaw set and expression serious. “I need you to understand this, Galo. Ellias _was_ nice to me, I swear it. He was wonderful, and I had no idea that things would turn out the way they did. _Please,_ believe me Galo.”

“Oh, god, yeah, of course!” he replied earnestly. “Of course I believe you, Lio. I do.”

“...Thank you.” The smaller man sank back into his chair, staring off at a wall across the room. “Anyway. By the time his study program was over, we had been dating for around a year. He needed to go back to the States to finish up his Master’s and I was very torn up about it. I didn’t want to lose him, he had become so important to me that I could hardly stand to bear the thought of being apart. So…” Lio stopped. He fiddled with his nails, mostly the one that grew back funny after the Promare left. After taking a deep breath in, he picked back up again. “So I let him convince me to go with him.”

“Go where?” Galo asked, before sitting up straighter in realization. “Wait, go back _here_? To America?”

He nodded, watching Galo’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. “I was… young and stupid and-” The laugh was so sudden that it made Galo jump a bit. He could see his friend’s eyes get glassy as he said with a melancholy smile: “-and so _in love._

“I had no attachment to the world around me and I wanted to get away. It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, a perfect win-win. I could start a new life all my own and I wouldn’t have to lose Ellias. It felt like it would be an extraordinary adventure. And isn’t that what everyone wants from life when they’re young? An adventure?”

He was looking fully at Galo now, expression beaming to the untrained eye, but he knew Lio better than that. There was a pain behind the happy glaze, a bitter aftertaste to otherwise pleasant memories. He had seen it nearly a dozen times when it came to Burnish negotiations. Always after a long, drawn out battle of meetings and forms and litigations and bullshit. When Lio would get exactly what he proposed for his people after fighting figurative tooth and nail for it for a large number of sleepless night and disappointing days he’d get that look on his face; it was one of surface pleasure and pride at the result, but held back a deeper, bitter grief over the recognition that he shouldn’t have had to fight so hard in the first place and the knowledge that he would only have to fight harder in the future.

“I don’t know,” Galo offered wearily. “Maybe I’m old now, but sometimes I think I’ve had enough adventure for a lifetime.”

“I can relate to that.” Lio laughed lightly in response. “In any case, after a few days of planning, I started to have some second thoughts of my own. I was sheltered, but I wasn’t naive. I knew that my life had been privileged and I scarcely knew what it would take to operate in the outside world on my own. I had never been so far away from my home before and the thought of it and all the unknowns excited and terrified me. 

“And… As spiritless as my homelife was, they were still my parents. I didn’t know if I could just leave my family behind.” Lio had looked up, about to speak again, when a sudden flash overtook him. His expression dropped into one of dread before he pulled his eyes away from Galo and back onto the floor.

“What?” Galo asked, leaning forward to be closer to the shorter man. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“...Sorry,” was Lio’s reply. “I’m so sorry, Galo. You must think me so selfish.”

“What?” he said again, Bewildered. “No, of course not! Why on Earth would I think that?” When the other did not respond, Galo reached out and grabbed ahold of his hand. Lio’s head snapped up, eyes wide. “Tell me what’s going on, Lio. _Please._ I’m listening, okay?” 

Galo fiercely kept Lio’s gaze for as long as he allowed and when the former leader’s stare slipped down to their clasped hands, Galo gave his grip a squeeze. There was a voice in the back of his head telling him that he shouldn’t be grabbing anyone who was opening up to him like this, especially on such a harsh topic, but Galo _had_ to make sure Lio knew that he was here for him. 

“You lost your parents,” Lio said finally. “You had your family taken away from you. You didn’t have a choice and I just walked away from mine. I feel terrible for going on about this without considering-”

“You don’t need to be feeling terrible for anything,” Galo interrupted. “Our situations are totally different. I don’t think you are selfish. At all.”

Lio continued to stare at their hands and Galo was sure he was going to pull away at any moment. “...I went to my parents then,” he went on. “I had to be sure. Maybe things could be better? But when I went to them and said that they needed to stop ignoring reality, that I wasn’t going to be cookie-cut into whatever perfect son they were looking for, they wouldn’t budge.” He felt Lio’s hand start to slip from his grasp, so Galo's grip grew slightly tighter. “So I told them that I was dating another boy and that if they wouldn’t change or accept that then I would be leaving with him.” Then, in a puzzled-tone, eyes still on their hands, he asked “Galo, what are you doing?”

The other man, who had begun to rub circles into the other’s palm in an attempt to be comforting answered, “My best.”

Puffs of air left Lio in a way that Galo had learned meant he was trying to keep his amusement internal. “I suppose you are.”

“Do you not like it?”

“No, it feels… nice.” The hesitation was not missed by either one of them, but it went by unmentioned.

“What did they say?” Galo urged. “Your parents.”

“Oh, they…” Another sigh. Lio had been doing that a lot tonight, he noticed. “They pretty much said, uh, ‘If you go then never come back. Do not speak to us again.’ and said they’d disown me. I don’t know if they thought I was bluffing and they were calling me on it or if they knew I would do it and were giving me an ultimatum that they thought was a greater threat. Either way, it was an easy choice. I packed what else I needed that I hadn’t packed already and left. Never spoke to them again.” A pause, then, “Well, that’s not true. I tried reaching them twice after that, as brief as the talk was. I did hear their voices and they heard mine, if you count that as ‘speaking’ to one another, but they hung up on me both times once they realized who it was.”

“They... hung up on you?” 

Lio nodded. “I was never sure if they were angry with me for what I did or simply because I hurt their precious pride. The last time I saw their faces was with this look of shock when I answered their ultimatum with nothing more than ‘Fine.’ I honestly think they were completely ignorant to just how cold their home was to me.” Then, in a mumble he added, “Or perhaps they were just shocked I could be so disobedient.” 

“Lio…”

“Either way,” he said with yet another sigh. “I don’t dwell on it anymore. It’s in the past and I’ve almost completely forgotten the impact of it all.”

“You didn’t think to check on them after the Second Blaze? Just to see?”

“No. You and I were all over the news the world over. My name hasn’t changed and they know what I look like. If they are still alive and conscious they know where I am. They could reach out to me if they wanted to.” He had given his response so resolutely and measured that Galo was positive that he had given it enough thought beforehand to know exactly what he was going to say. The lines almost sounded rehearsed, and he couldn’t help but wonder if someone had asked him previously - perhaps his former generals - or maybe Lio had asked himself.

The other’s expression shifted from calm and collected to one of concern as he turned his body to face Galo’s. “Are you sure you are okay with this? I would understand completely if you thought I was horrible.”

“I don’t think you’re horrible, Lio.”

“But I bet you would do anything to see your parents again and I won’t even put in the effort to see if mine are _alive-_ ”

“It really doesn’t matter what _I_ would do-”

“Of course it does!” Lio contended roughly. “Of course what you do matters! Everything you do is important to me!”

There was a silence shared between them at that. Galo had mixed-feeling about it; this was the closest Lio had ever been to any sort of return to Galo’s feelings, but he wasn’t sure if that’s really the direction he meant to take. “You’re important to me” could mean anything, and really Lio didn’t even say _that._ No, Galo needed him to be clearer.

“What do you mean by that?” He felt a small twinge of guilt for being so opportunistic, but he wouldn’t let the moment go to waste.

“I mean exactly what I said. What you do is important to me. What you _say_ is important to me. I care about what you think of me.”

“Do you… Do you care about me?”

Lio offered a soft smile. “Of course I do, Galo.”

“But do you care about me, like I care about you?” Lio’s expression faltered and Galo immediately regretted saying it. “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t the time. This isn’t about me right now. I should’ve-”

“No, it’s fine.” Lio said that, but pulled his hand out of Galo’s grasp in contrast. ”This is about you. This is why I want you to know all this.”

“I’m sorry,” Galo said again. He pressed his own thumb into his palm, feeling the warmth Lio left there.

“Don’t be. It’s complicated and entirely on me.”

“None of this is your fault-”

“We could go like this all night, Galo,” Lio interjected sharply. “I really just want to get this all out there before I lose my nerve.” The taller opened his mouth, but Lio pointed a finger at him before he could say anything. “And I swear to god if you apologise one more time I’m going to scream.”

Galo wisely pressed his lips back together.

“...I was on a plane to Detroit that day. Ellias had this little terraced house just on the outside of the more ‘city’ sections and I met his sister and it was nice. For practically a year it was really nice.” Lio folded his arms then, but it wasn’t a relaxed gesture - Galo could see that the grip he had on himself was tight. “Then one day he just hit me. And it was so out of nowhere that I didn’t even register that that was what happened. One moment I was laughing, teasing him, nothing out of the ordinary, and the next my face stings and my ears are ringing.” Lio’s hands left his arms to gesture in front of him, making harsh chopping motions with each word he spoke. “And he did not react. At all. Nothing. He just went about, talking just as we were as if he wasn’t even aware that anything had happened to me at all. I was so-!” He grit his teeth, struggling to find the right words. “I don’t know! I don’t know what I was! Confused? Dazed? It was to the point where I was thinking that something flew in and struck me over suspecting him. It couldn’t be him, because he seems to not have even noticed, and how could anyone strike someone else and feel nothing about it?

“It wasn’t until that night, when I was lying in bed next to him that I thought: ‘I think he slapped me.’ Like all the gears in my head had rattled around and gotten their teeth out of place with the blow and it wasn’t until several hours later that they were able to realign and click back together. ‘I think he hit me.’

“The next day I was on guard around him. And the day after that, and the day after that... I couldn’t understand it. He had never acted like that before, so I still had some doubt in my mind. Maybe I was crazy, I don’t know.”

“Lio…” Galo started, but the other lifted his hand up without looking at him.

“Please, let me finish. I don’t know how much longer I can keep talking like this - stopping and starting.” After the other mumbled an apology that made Lio’s eyebrow twitch in annoyance, he went on. “He didn’t do anything. I think he made a comment or two asking why I was so jumpy but nothing more than that. So after a while I just, forgot about it. I chose to forget. I let my guard back down. I was being ridiculous after all. Ellias loved me, he wouldn’t hurt me.

“But then he did again. And it was a spectacle. I think I dropped and broke something, like a glass or some other thing, but he just started _screaming_ at me and for a bit I was too taken aback to do anything before I started screaming right back. ‘Why are you yelling at me?’ I said. ‘I didn’t even do anything, why are you acting like this?’ We had never had a fight before.

“We got in each other’s faces. I wasn’t afraid of him - I was never afraid of anyone - but then he grabbed me.” Lio mimed the action on his own body, crossing his arm to grip onto the sides of his shoulders. “Right here. Hard. And it was like the motion sucked the air out of me. All my energy and will just disappeared. I told him to let me go, told him that he was hurting me, but he just dug in tighter. He was still yelling, so I thought that maybe he didn’t hear me. I said it louder. ‘You’re hurting me, let go!’ Nothing. 

“I struggled. I tried to get loose, but I couldn’t. I could barely move. He held me in place, so I took ahold of his arms and dug my nails in as hard as I could and only then did he shove me away from him.” Lio stopped, staring straight ahead at somewhere faraway. “Ah, that’s right. It was a plate.”

“A what?” Galo quired, perturbed. 

“A plate. I dropped a plate. I remember now, because I landed on it.” Then he started checking his arms over, as if to make sure. “It would’ve cut in deeper if it was a glass. Maybe scarred, but it didn’t. That’s fine.”

“That’s not fine!” Galo exclaimed. “Jesus Christ, Lio! None of that is fine!”

Lio looked at him with the same owlish look he had given him earlier that night, as if he couldn’t comprehend his words. “I know,” he said slowly, unconvincingly. “I know that.”

“Do you?” Galo scooted himself closer, encouraged when the other did not move or flinch away. “Look, Lio, this guy was an asshole! How could you think of yourself as a murderer when you were clearly defending yourself!”

“You haven’t even heard of what happened then.”

Muddled, Galo pressed, “Is that not what you were just telling me about?”

“With the plate? No, that was just- That was a separate incident.”

“Lio, how many ‘incidents’ were there?”

“Look, I-” He looked away, ashamed. “I stayed for another year or so after that.”

“A _year?!_ ” Glao cried, horrified. “He held you hostage for a whole ‘nother _year?!_ ”

“No, I _stayed_ for another year!” Lio shot back. “I could’ve left whenever I wanted! The door was always open! He knew it, _I_ knew it-!”

“So why didn’t you?” It was the wrong thing to say, and Galo knew that. He could list off a whole page’s worth of things he knew never to say to victims of crimes or trauma that he employed everyday at his job when he was cool and collected and an outsider, but in the moment it was completely different. He was emotionally invested and that aspect alone put a completely different spin on what he knew - a completely new hurdle to clear, and he had tripped, but the moment was too charged for him to even notice. “That just proves my point! Of course you would leave if you could, but you _couldn’t_ because-!”

“ _Because I was too weak!_ ” Lio had shouted it, raising to his feet, fists balled at his sides and shaking. “I was too weak and _stupid!_ I had no idea how to do anything in your stupid country! I wasn’t there legally! I didn’t know how to drive, I couldn’t get a job, or a phone, or a place to stay! I couldn’t do _anything!_ It took me weeks just to figure out what number to call the police! And then all they did was take forever to show up and lecture me on misusing the line!”

“None of that makes you stupid!” Galo argued loudly, jumping to his feet as well. “Or weak! At all!”

“ _Yes, it does! I-!_ ” Lio choked. His expression did not change and his eyes did not get foggy, but the crack in his voice was enough to know. He grimaced and turned away, saying nothing else. 

Galo felt his heart jump up into his throat before plummeting right down to his stomach. “Lio, shit, I am so sorry.”

“Stop apologising,” Lio spat without moving. “You’re really starting to piss me off.”

“I-” Galo cut himself off, but couldn’t think of what else to say in place of the almost-apology, dead on arrival. He had handled this all wrong, he blew it. All he wanted to do was say a thousand “I’m sorry”s but even that would only make it worse.

 _‘I feel like such a shithead,’_ he thought in the long silence, defeated. _‘Of all the times I could’ve stood to just shut up and listened-’_

“I never noticed,” Lio said quietly, rousing Galo from his thoughts. “I never noticed before that day how much…” He shuddered, just enough to twist Galo’s insides. “ _Bigger_ he was than me. How much taller and _stronger_. When he grabbed me I couldn’t move. Nothing I did mattered. He could pick me up and move me around any which way he wanted and I couldn’t stop him. There was nothing I could do.

“But I wasn’t a citizen, and I had no resources, no where else to go. It wasn’t like I could hike back home either. I had no money for a plane ticket, and I had no idea what your horrid government and your terrible police force would do to me if they found out I was here illegally. And… I remember what Ellias used to be like. I thought maybe he’d go back. I loved him, I mean... I thought I did.

“After that day it was like a switch went off in him. That was just how he was from then on out and I couldn’t understand it. I thought maybe there was a way to switch it back, and I tried to figure out what it was that flipped it in the first place. Maybe it was me? Maybe something happened at his job, or with his degree? I don’t know. I would get glimpses of normalcy when we went out or when his sister or friends came to visit and it wasn’t like he was upset all the time, but he would just go off out of nowhere. He was so unpredictable. Sometimes we could go weeks without any trouble and other times it would be an entire week of hell. 

“Only once, when it got really bad, I called the police - that didn’t work. And then another time I called my parents while he was out and that went just as well.” 

Lio shifted on his feet, but still would not face his friend. Galo stepped back and allowed himself to fall onto the couch, giving him more space to work with. His reward was Lio turning his body just slightly more towards him.

“Aleka came over a lot,” he went on. “They were close, since their parents died. We had gotten to know each other pretty well. She was over and I can’t remember what Ellias was doing, but he wasn’t in the room. It was just her and I. She saw a bruise or a scrape or something on me and she asked where it came from. I had never lied to her before - Ellias did plenty for me - but I had never done so myself, and I found that I couldn’t then. 

“So I told her. Told her everything, and she sat there, listening, and nodding. Perfectly calm. I begged for her to help me and she told me that she would. And this-” Lio turned more, arms falling out of their tight cross to hang loosely at his sides, as if they had just handed off a large weight. “This _huge_ sense of relief filled me. I didn’t realise just how much I wanted out until that moment. I could’ve cried- could’ve passed out. I felt like I could _breathe_ again, like I had my head underwater that entire time and had just then re-discovered air.”

He looked at Galo then, sitting somberly on the couch with a grave expression. Slowly, he made his way back to the chair. He stopped in front of it for a heartbeat, before passing it up to fix himself on the couch next to Galo. The firefighter watched him closely, careful not to move a single muscle until Lio offered up his hands. He wanted to snatch both of them up quickly, as if they would disappear without warning - a life preserver to a drowning man threatened to be stolen out of reach by violent waves - but he fought it. Gradually, he adjusted himself so that he too was sitting crossed legged. There was significantly less room for him to do so, but he was determined to make it work. He thought maybe Lio might have laughed at his clumsy display, but when he met his eyes and took his hands he saw no hint of emotion in his face, eyes, or posture. Lio was the picture of calm waters, stoic-like, but Galo could feel the shake in his hands. 

“She told me to wait,” he went on. “She said she’d be right back and she left the room. When she came back she was with him, still in the middle of telling him how much of a _liar_ I was.” Galo felt the nails digging into his palms. “Telling him that I was saying such awful things about him and how could I do that after all he’s done for me? My mind completely froze up. It was like time stopped for me as everything else continued on. I didn’t know what to do, what to say- like my mind had been yanked free from my body - unplugged, almost - and I could feel myself mashing all the buttons I could up there to do _something_ but nothing would respond. And the _intensity_ he looked at me with... made me feel like I was being strangled.”

Lio’s grasp eased. Galo knew there were probably marks on his hands now, but he didn’t care. He waited patiently for him to take a deep breath and go onwards.

“Ellias told her- He apologised to her. Said that she should head home and that he and I would talk. Apologised again as he walked her out. I was still frozen to the couch, not moving.” Lio glared at their hands. “Like an _idiot_.”

 _‘You’re not an idiot,’_ Galo wanted to say. He tried his best to let him know, clasping both of his hands into his entirely ( _‘They are so small. Why are they so small? How could anyone do something like that to someone so small?’_ ) and brought them up to his lips. They were shaking and cold ( _‘They are always so cold now’_ ) and so he warmed them up as gently as he could. Lio said nothing, still maintaining his unaffected affect, but the trembling lessened.

“It wasn’t until he came back into the room and moved towards me - a single step, that’s all - that absolute panic and terror took hold of me. I jumped up, tried to get away, but of course it was too late. He beat the absolute holy hell out of me.” Galo’s hands took their turn to shake. “I kept fighting, running, throwing things, or twisting back his fingers until he let go enough that I could get away. I tried to hide, but the only places that locked in the house were the bathrooms and he kicked the door in on one of them. I tried to beg for forgiveness, apologised a hundred times, swore I’d never do anything like it ever again, but it didn’t matter. 

“In the end, he was over me, his whole weight pressing into me. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. I felt myself blacking out and I thought ‘This is it. I’m dying’ and I felt… I wasn’t sad, or scared- I felt _angry._

“I was so angry. At Aleka for betraying me, at myself for allowing this to happen, but mostly at him. I was _furious_ with him. He had lied to me, hurt me, took me away from everything I knew with false promises of a better life. I had not allowed myself to feel any anger up until then and I had felt it all at that moment - everything I had been holding back. I remember thinking- remember _wishing_ that I was stronger; strong enough to help myself, strong enough to _do something._...And then I was.”

Galo let Lio pull their hands back into their laps, exploring Galo’s rough fingers and palms. “What did it feel like? Becoming Burnish?”

“It felt amazing. Like I had become whole, like a part of me I didn’t even know was missing had been found.” He laced their fingers together and Galo’s next words got caught in his throat. “He had been knocked back - off of me. I don’t know what I looked like, but I must’ve been covered in flames. I stood above him like he had to me countless times and this time it was _him_ that was filled with fear. He looked up at me, so terrified. He was afraid of me. Do you know what I thought?”

“No,” Galo admitted, eyes still locked on their woven fingers.

“I thought: _good._ ” Like sand, Lio’s hand melted away from the other’s, falling away smoothly to fold together in his own lap. “And then I killed him.”

“Lio…”

“I ran then. I don’t know where to, just- away. The whole house was on fire and was threatening to overtake the row so I just ran as far away as I could in any direction that was away from there. I managed to find what was quite possibly the last phone box in all of Detroit and I rang my parents. It was the only thing I could think of to do.”

“And they hung up on you?”

Lio nodded somberly. “That was the last time I ever tried to reach out to them. Then I just-” He shrugged, hands unfolding to gesture vaguely at nothing. “Wandered. From there until I heard about and found the Mad Burnish. Just traveled. Surviving. Trying to get away.”

“I am so sorry, Lio. I am so sorry that’s happened to you.”

“It’s in the past. It’s fine now-”

“It’s not fine-!” Galo started loud. He pulled back, cleared his throat and tried again. “It’s not okay. That woman knows what happened to you. You _told_ her and she is out there spreading lies about you.”

“They aren’t-”

“And don’t tell me they aren’t lies,” Galo quipped. “I don’t care what you say, you aren’t a murderer. And you know her version of what happened will not match up with your own.”

At first, Lio said nothing. When he spoke again, to Galo’s great happiness, it wasn’t to argue his point. “Well, she is… _Was_ , I suppose, his sister. They were close, and she of course knew him and trusted him more than she ever knew or trusted me.” A tsk and a shake of his head, then, “Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking telling her. I don’t know how I could possibly think that would work out.”

“You didn’t have anyone else to turn to. You did what you could, it’s not your fault she couldn’t see what was really happening.” 

Lio _hmm_ ed sadly, but made no further comment, gaze tossed off to the side. Galo stared openly at him, conflicted on how to move forward. He wanted to comfort the other man, but wasn’t sure that he knew how. Tentatively, he lifted his hand and reached out. His fingertips were not even beginning to brush against Lio’s hair before they halted. 

Lio had taken notice. His eyes were on him but not with fear. Galo thought maybe it was longing that he saw in the other, but he was sure that couldn’t be right. He was too hopeful.

The taller chewed his lip, unsure if he was doing the right thing, but when the pads of his fingers reached a soft cheek Lio sank into his hand and Galo felt like he had been punched. Lio pressed himself into his palm, his own hand coming up to hold Galo’s in place while using the other to run his fingers up his arm. Featherlight touches traced their way up into the inside of his elbow and back down again, a sensation that Galo felt all the way down his spine.

“You are so warm,” Lio sighed - a good one this time, free of tension - and closed his eyes. “I missed being so warm.”

“...Lio?”

“Hmm?”

“Is this…” Galo swallowed thickly. He hated himself so much for what he was about to do to ruin the moment, but he had to know. “Is this why we aren’t together?” 

Lio’s fingers against his arm slowed to a crawl just as a mournful expression started to appear.

“Lio, are you… afraid of me?” 

Lio did not pull away, but the fingers that were drawing on his arm moved to grasp loosely at his wrist. “It’s not… It’s mostly not that.”

Galo did not miss the use of the word “mostly.”

“I… When I was with him, I couldn’t leave. I mean, I could, but I couldn’t do anything to help myself if I did. I knew nothing about how your country operated - I had thought that since there wasn’t any language barrier it wouldn’t be all that different, but it was. I had never been on my own before. Ever. I knew nothing about how to do anything for myself. How to apply for a job, how to get around, how your money worked… things like that. I was defenseless until I turned Burnish and now…”

“...Ah.”

“You understand, don’t you?” Lio implored. “I have lived here for all these years, but I was completely detached from society. Even things I knew how to do before have changed so much that I might as well have forgotten.” Then, flicking his head to the kitchen behind them he added: “I think your apron can attest to that.”

“Hey, I kinda like the pink color now.”

“You don’t need to lie to me, Galo, it’s absolutely hideous.” The bigger man guffawed despite himself, and Lio couldn’t help but laugh lightly along. When the both fell into an easy silence he went on. “...You see, I’m back in the same position as I was all those years before. I’m defenseless and I don’t know how to do anything. And I am not saying-” Lio grabbed a hold of his hand, bringing it out in front of him as he captured Galo’s gaze with a serious look. “I am not saying that I think you would _ever_ hurt me like he did. I don’t think that about you, Galo. I promise. But…

“...But I just can’t- I need to learn how to do things for myself. I need to know how to take care of myself, _by myself_ first. I need to. I can’t just go from depending on one person to depending on another. That’s not a fair dynamic for either of us.”

“I can teach you stuff,” he offered weakly, to which Lio gave just as weak of a smile.

“I need to learn for myself, Galo.”

“...Yeah, okay.” Then, with a wry smile he said: “So you do like me then? You care for me the same way?”

“Of course I do, you big idiot,” Lio scoffed playfully. “I think you’re the only person in Promepolis who hasn’t gotten that memo yet.”

“I’m your big idiot, though,” Galo said, grinning widely. “And can you blame me? It took you forever to even tell me when your birthday was! I missed your twenty-fourth _and_ your twenty-fifth!”

“And I thought maybe I could’ve kept you strung along until after my twenty-sixth too, but you were too persistent,” Lio reminisces with fake remorse. At first, Galo laughed at that, but a befuddled expression suddenly overtook him.

“Wait,” he said, mumbling to himself as he counted, staring hard at his twitching fingers as they kept track.

“What are you doing?” Lio asked, puzzled at the display. When Galo didn’t answer he added: “Don’t burst a blood vessel thinking too hard there, champ. We just went over how much I like you - your head included.”

Galo looked up suddenly, startling the other a bit. “Did you say you met that guy while he was getting a degree? His Master’s?”

For a split second, Lio’s eyes went wide, but in the next second it was gone, replaced with careful, innocent confusion. “I… Yes, I do believe I said that, yes.”

“Like… Master’s degree? A degree-degree? From college?”

Lio clicked his tongue. “We call them Universities. Or ‘uni’ for short. ‘College’ means something totally different across the pond.”

“What? What does it mea- No.” Galo pointed a finger at the shorter man. “No, no. Don’t try to distract me. This does not add up. How old was this guy when you met him? How old were you?”

“I am twenty-five, Galo. We just went over that.”

“No.” Galo pressed again. “Do not do that. Lio, how old were you back then - when you first started dating this guy?”

Lio at first said nothing and continued to stare blankly at him. Three seconds of silence passed. Lio cleared his throat. “Okay, look-”

Galo drew back, stunned. “ _Lio._ ”

“No, no, no! Wait, listen-”

“The fact that you did not answer immediately with _a number_ , Lio!”

“I know- But wait, just-”

“This is a _very_ important detail that you conveniently left out!”

“It is not _that_ important!”

“Then tell me how old he was!”

Lio visibly hesitated, but faced with Galo’s urging expression he relented. “Twenty-five.”

His jaw dropped. “That’s how old you are now!” he exclaimed.

“I know.”

“And how old were you?” 

“...Seventeen.” Galo’s hands flew to his face, as if to stop his own head from popping off his shoulders.

“ _Lio._ ”

“I know! I know! Okay? But-”

“‘But’?” Galo managed to squeak out. “There’s a ‘but’?! Lio, this is a whole other situation - he was taking advantage of you from the start! That is a _huge_ gap!”

“It is not a _huge_ gap!”

“It’s like ten years!”

“It is _not_ ten years, Galo!”

“Well, it’s closer to ten years than not!” he shot back. Lio had nothing to say to that. After all, he was right. “I mean, _god,_ is that even legal?”

“Yes,” Lio quipped sharply. “The age of consent in England is sixteen.”

“Even when the other half of the couple is over eighteen?”

“Yes,” Lio answered just as easily.

“Why do you know that?”

Lio threw his arms up in exasperation. “You _just_ asked me, and I answered!”

“Yeah, but that is something most people would have to look up! Unless you already looked it up, at some point!”

“And what if I did?”

“Then that means that on some level, at some point, you knew that the gap was _sketch_ ,” Galo said pointedly. “Which means that you _know_ that it wasn’t quite right for a grown _man_ to be trying to get with a teenager.”

 _‘And the fact that you were trying to hide it from me,’_ he added to himself.

“Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Galo,” Lio dismissed. “What’s your point?”

“My point is: that this guy was not nice to you, _at all_ . Ever. You did not flip a switch in him, it was likely his plan all along! He was taking advantage of you! He was _grooming_ you!”

Galo was not entirely too sure what he thought the result of his little speech would get him, but like Lio said, hindsight was twenty-twenty, and in the immediate afterthought, basking in the barely concealed fury in Lio’s eyes, Galo was pretty sure all his speech actually wound up getting him was his foot so far into his own mouth that he might as well have kicked his own teeth in.

“Don’t ever say that to me again.” Lio bit out. “Ever. Do you understand me?”

“...Yes… Well, no,” Galo answered wisely. “Do you mean all of it or just that last part?”

“The _last_ part.”

“The thing about the gro-”

“ _Yes,_ ” Lio hissed out through gritted teeth. “That part. I never want to hear it ever again. Clear?”

“Yeah… Yes, okay. I’m- I’m sorry.” A beat of silence, then, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to freak out on you or sound accusing, it’s just- I’m just so upset for you.”

Lio cocked an eyebrow at him, listening.

“You shouldn’t have had to go through any of those things.”

“We all have things in our lives that we’d rather not relive,” Lio said, shrugging. “I made it out alright, and there’s a lot of people there who didn’t make it out through theirs. A lot of Burnish who have had things done to them that permanently altered their lives. It’s really not so bad in context.”

There was a ringing in Galo’s head that he sure was actually his tiny internal voice screaming. “...Just… Just because someone else goes through something you think is ‘worse’ does not mean that you can’t feel bad about what happened to you.”

“What use is ‘feeling bad’ going to do?”

“It might help you move on,” Galo said evenly.

“I have moved on,” Lio asserted. “It’s only because Aleka brought it back up for the whole world to see that I’m even talking about it.”

“...Does that mean you wouldn’t have told me?” Lio did not react to the question. “If this hadn’t been… the way it is, would you just have... never told me?”

Lio’s stare could’ve bore a hole through Galo’s skull, but it was directed at a far wall. Fierce and focused, but unseeing. They stayed like that for a while, with Galo wringing out his hands, cracking his knuckles, and with Lio, chin in his hand, staring off hard and motionless.

“I think I should go,” the former Burnish said finally. “And before you say anything: no, it’s not because of you. It’s late and I have some things I need to think about.”

“About me?” Galo asked quietly.

“No.”

“About us?” he asked even quieter.

“No, Galo. About myself.” Lio let himself up from the couch and started to head to the door. “As much as I would like for this to be just another bullshit story that will eventually go away, I don’t think it will this time.” Galo himself rose up once Lio started putting on his shoes. “I need to start thinking about how to handle that as well.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Galo offered awkwardly. “The last thing I want to see is you on live TV going ‘Yeah, I did it! And I’ll do it again!’”

Lio looked back at him, smiling softly, and Galo felt a bit more at ease. “Do you really think I’d say something like that?”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d try to make a grilled cheese in a toaster either, so I’m not gonna take any bets on what you won’t do.”

“It’s called a cheese toastie,” Lio corrected with a smirk. “And it would’ve worked if your toaster wasn’t so small and autocratic. It was in desperate need of rebellion.”

“Right, right…” Galo rubbed his neck nervously. “Listen, at least, maybe, talk to me? You know before you make a decision or do anything? I want to help; we’re a team, remember?”

Lio cocked his head sweetly, a reassuring smile on his face. “Yeah, a team. Of course, Galo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lio: Of course I think a relationship between an adult and a teenager is wrong! But MY relationship was different. 
> 
> Galo: how was it different 
> 
> Lio: 
> 
> Lio: >:(
> 
> \---
> 
> On my end, I have a slightly different font for Lio's British code switching, but I can't get the font to change... After jacking with the workskin thing for an hour I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not good at this sort of thing.


	3. Panic! ...That’s it.

The next morning, Galo had the day off. It wasn’t an often occurrence, and it was even less often that Galo actually enjoyed it. Well, perhaps “enjoyed” was the wrong word. He just felt like he had too much on his mind to properly focus on his job, so he was relieved to at least have this small thing in his favor. 

He was laying on his couch, watching a movie he had seen a million times before without really watching it. Normally he might fiddle with his phone but he really didn’t want to risk going on any social media sites right now. He heard a series of hard knocks on his door, and after deeming his outfit of sweatpants and an old tank top worthy to be seen in, he opened it to find Lio’s right-hand men standing there.

“We’re here to fuck you up!” Gueira said excitedly. Galo stared at the two blankly, nodded once, and shut the door. _“Hey!”_

Two knocks came again, this time lower on his door, like someone had kicked it.

“We mean the other kind of fucked up,” came the muffled sound of Meis’ voice. “The drunk kind.”

“What other kind is there?” He heard Gueira ask his boyfriend.

“He thinks we’re going to kick his ass,” came the tired response.

“Like hell we are! Have you seen him? Dude’s got pecs made of marble. I can feel my fists break apart just thinkin’ ‘bout it.”

“I can still hear you!” Galo called from the other side, distressed. “I really don’t want to get any kind of fucked up, thanks. And it’s-” Galo checked his phone. “Uh, it’s not even noon??”

“So we’ll order lunch!” Gueira called back, then, at a quieter volume, “You got money, right?”

“For fucks sake, Gueira...” Another kick to the door. “Open up. I got a box full of booze and my arms are dying. We’re here for the Boss.”

In a burst of panic, Galo threw open the door. “Lio’s not here,” he spoke, full of dread. “Did he not make it back home last night?” Galo could’ve sworn that he texted to say that he was back at Meis and Gueira’s place safe and sound! He quickly scrolled through his phone to check-

“Woah, calm down there, bootlicker,” Gueira chided, using the opportunity to slip inside his apartment. “He made it fine. We’re not here to pick him up.” Before Galo could protest further, the red-head had already moved his body to hold the door open and shoved Galo to the side so that Meis could enter.

“We’re here _about_ Boss,” the other man clarified, moving to set what was indeed a box brimming with various bottles and cans on his breakfast bar. “Sorry, should’ve been more clear about that.”

“What about Lio?” Galo asked cautiously, eyeing Gueira as he popped open a can and threw himself onto the couch. “Is everything okay with him?”

“Everything’s fine!” Gueira practically sang, stretching out over the cushions like a cat. “He’s at home, he needs some space, so we just came over to talk! Have a seat.”

Galo watched, jaded, as the man gestured to his own furniture. “This is my apartment.”

“Well, then it should be easy for you to make yourself at home, shouldn’t it?”

“Are you guys just here to yell at me again?”

Gueira sat up at that, annoyed. “When have we ever yelled at you?” 

“When Lio went out for errands that one day without telling anyone and his phone broke so you immediately thought I kidnapped him,” Galo answered easily. “Or that time he was over at the station and I had him laughing so hard that when you two walked in you thought I had made him cry. Or that time when I had all of you over and I left the room and came back to you all arguing and Lio kicked you guys out and that was _my_ fault, somehow-”

Gueira waved him off. “That wasn’t yelling. That was just being loud.”

“Someone torpedo kicked me in that second one,” Galo replied bitterly.

“That was Meis. Take it up with him.” As instructed, Galo turned to the other man to see him offering up a can. The outside was such a mess of colors that Galo couldn’t even begin to make out any brand or text on it. 

“Sorry. I was on edge all day.” He went on after Galo took the mystery can. “And I’ve never seen Boss cry so I didn’t have a frame of reference. I jumped to conclusions.”

“How come you don’t beat anyone up for me when I cry?” Gueira asked. Galo couldn’t tell if the hurt in his tone was real or fake.

“You cry all the time, Gueira,” Meis replied with a weary sigh, sitting on the couch’s armrest. “And half the time you’re doing it to yourself. What am I supposed to do? Go to the shelter and beat up all the three-legged cats you keep thinking about?”

“...They are just so good at getting around even though it’s difficult for them…”

“Christ, don’t start.”

“Why are you really here?” Galo interjected.

“Whaddya mean?” Gueira scoffed. “We just told you. We’re here about the Boss.”

“But why.”

“We know Lio told you about what’s happened to him,” Meis spoke, his sentence punctuated with the popping of a can opened. Galo was surprised at the rare use of Lio’s actual name. “It’s important that you know because of all this shit-stirring this bitch is doing, but sometimes hearing about trauma can be traumatic too. In it’s own way.”

“We learned that from taking care of the other Burnish for so long,” Gueira added. “You hear some fucked up shit out there and it kinda fucks you up, even if you didn’t go through none of it yourself.”

“Gueira and I have had each other to talk to, but you don’t have anyone.” Then, with a glare he said, “You _haven’t_ told anyone else, have you?”

“No, of course not!” Galo said hurriedly. “I wouldn’t betray Lio’s trust like that.” Meis eyes narrowed but he nodded in approval. “Does Lio know you’re here?”

“Of course! We have his blessing,” Gueira replied. “I think he seemed relieved about it, honestly. He’d always mention it so casually in passing, but he _hates_ talking about it in detail.”

“What do you mean?”

Gueira thought for a moment, taking a large swig from his can. “I remember one time- I can’t even remember what we all were talking about, but we somehow got onto the topic of hospitals and he just goes ‘the only time I’ve been in a hospital was when my boyfriend broke my arm’ and then moves on like it was a normal thing to say and we’re all just standing there like: _yikes_ . Shit like that would happen all the time- Well, maybe not all the time… every now and again, I guess.” He went to take another drink but stopped to say more. “Oh! But! If anyone would but like, ‘yo, what the _fuck_ are you talking about?’ or ask him about it, he’d clam up and change the topic. If you kept on it he’d get angry.”

Meis nodded in agreement. “We heard about everything in chunks. Brief conversations here and there. It took a while, but we’ve heard it all. You, on the other hand, got it all in one go.” Galo grimaced, uncomfortable with the attention. “So sit down. Talk about it. It’s frustrating, we know.”

“It…” Galo thought about it. Several moments went by without anyone saying anything, before he eventually sank into the same chair Lio occupied for most of last night. “It _is_ frustrating!”

“There we go,”Gueira said knowingly. “Let it out.”

“He doesn’t seem to think that it’s a big deal!”

“Yeah, Boss’ go-to coping mechanism is denial,” the ex-burnish spoke. “Don’t think about it, don’t dwell on it, move on.”

“He distracts himself with more important things,” Meis explains. 

“But this is important too!” Galo protested.

“His words, not mine. I’m inclined to agree with you.”

“I just can’t imagine how awful it must feel!” Galo goes on. “To have put everything behind you, only for it to be dredged up all over again. On _Twitter!_ But doesn’t seem to care at all! At least, he doesn’t seem as upset as I think anyone else would be.”

“He’s burying his emotions. I think he believes if he just suffocates his grief it’ll go away.”

“Like a flame!” Gueira exclaims. “If you smother a flame with something, it’ll die. Provided you don’t keep lifting the cover up and checking on it.”

“That doesn’t seem healthy…” Galo mumbled. He cracked open his drink and made a face when he tried it. What _is_ this?

“Well, it was working for him out there,” Gueira remarked. “It let him keep a level head no matter what was happening. He was a great leader.”

“Boss wasn’t trying to date anyone out there,” Meis pointed out. 

Galo coughed as he tried to take another drink (nope, still tasted weird).“Ah, you… you guys know about that?”

“Of course we know about that,” Meis said, insulted. 

“The whole city knows about that,” the other man added, getting up for another drink. 

“Well, _I_ wasn’t sure,” Galo muttered. “It didn’t matter what anyone else said, if it didn’t come from Lio himself I could never be sure. I didn’t want to assume…”

Meis raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“Anyway, he did tell me last night, that he did want to be together-”

“Woo hoo!” came a cheer from the kitchen. “Congrats!”

“-but that we couldn’t right now…”

Gueira made a noise like a deflating balloon.

“He said that he had to learn how to take care of himself so that he’s not depending on me.” Then, sadly, Galo added, “like he depended on this Ellias bastard.” Another sip. It was just as bad, but the firefighter kept forgetting the taste. 

“That’s why he shot down your job offer,” Meis remarked. Galo looked up at that.

“Is it?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t want anything handed to him, because if he loses it, he wouldn’t know how to apply for another when he starts over.” He raised a steady hand to gesture loosely at Galo. “Like with you. It would be easy to just jump into a relationship with you and move in or whatever, but say you two break up? What’s he supposed to do then?”

“Who says they would break up?” Gueira mumbled, making his way back to the couch. “Don’t say they’ll break up, babe, that’s so rude.”

“How long have you two been together?” The former Burnish looked surprised at Galo’s question.

Meis regarded him with suspicion. “Why do you want to know?” 

“You’re Lio’s friends? I think it’d be good to learn more about you?”

“Ah, so it’s for Boss’ sake only then, huh,” Gueira piped up.

“Oh, please, like you two have any room to talk,” Galo scowled. “Are you here because you care about me and my well-being or are you here because you think it’d be better for Lio if I was more chill with this whole thing?”

The lanky man on the couch jabbed a finger at Galo, mouth agape. “Hey! You’re suppose to be stupid! That’s not fair!”

“We’ve been caught,” Meis said with a laugh, watching Galo throw back the whole can (it wasn’t so bad if he drank it all in one go).

“It’s fine, I think it’s sweet,” the taller said. “I’m happy that Lio has friends that take care of him like this.”

“I’m not sweet,” Gueira pouted, before yelping indignantly when Meis pushed an apparently ticklish spot on his foot and insisted that he was, in fact, sugary sweet.

“We’ve been together pretty much since we became Burnish.” Meis grinned, then, “Did you know the three of us became Burnish on the same day?” 

Galo shook his head. “I know Lio was in Detroit, were you there too?”

“Nah, I was in Miami and he was in Houston,” Gueira said, gesturing to himself and then Meis. “But the two of us saw the Mad Burnish on TV and individually thought they were super hella awesome and made our ways up towards Promepolis.”

Meis shrugged. “We found them, joined, got together, rest is history.” Galo started to get up from his chair, but Meis waved him back down and got up himself.

“Lio told me he joined after you guys,” Galo recalled. “Said you were in charge when he got there, but Detroit is so much closer. How come it took him so much longer to get here?”

“Well, unlike us, who were actively looking for purpose after we became Burnish, Boss was just trying to survive,” Gueira explained. 

“And, we’re two years older,” Meis added, tossing Galo a bottle on his way back to his seat. “I may not have been a citizen, but I had means, as did Gueira.”

“Credit cards, IDs, the knowledge of how to drive…” the other man listed off. “All things from our old lives that came in handy. We weren’t wanted criminals at that point, just Burnish. As long as we kept a low profile we could rent cars or stay in hotels if needed and empty out our accounts. Boss didn’t have jack-shit. He pretty much spent several months being homeless up and around Detroit.”

“That’s terrible…” Galo commented sadly, before blinking, confused. “Wait, did you say that you weren’t a citizen? You’re not American either?”

“That’s what I said,” Meis confirmed. “Though I’m still not, technically. I was in Texas on tour with my band. I married this moron to get my Green Card after the Second Blaze.”

Gueira beamed. “Hellz yeah he did! Matrimonial bliss~. My parents immigrated when I was young and got me citizenship. I got voting rights and everything.”

“Wait, you two are married?!” Glao exclaimed. “You were in a band?! Where are you two from?!”

“Australia,” came the unison reply.

“Goddamnit!” Galo cried, slamming his fists on the armrest. Beer splashed out of his bottle but he paid it no mind. “Why is it that _no one_ uses their charming accents anymore?!”

“Not everyone is gonna sound like the caricatures you see on TV, dumbass,” Meis said sharply. “And it’s not like we’re _really_ married.”

“Ah, babe, I’m hurt,” came Gueira’s sarcastic whine. 

“It’s just for convenience sake. Maybe in future we’ll hold an actual ceremony and really mean it.”

“Ah, babe, I’m touched.” Meis grabbed at the other general’s socks again to shut him up, but Gueira saw it coming and scooted away up the couch with a cackle. “Hey, maybe you and Boss should do that.”

“I really don’t think Boss would go for that,” Meis spoke up before Galo had the chance.

“Why not? Even doing this whole ‘independant’ thing, he could see the value in it, I’m sure. You agree with me, right, Schwarzenegger?”

“Schwarzenegger...?” Galo echoed.

“Yeah, you know, that actor from the old movies. Terminator and such. ‘Cause you’re all muscled up.” Gueira gestured vaguely to all of Galo. “I mean, com’on, dude. Do you, like, chug protein shakes or what?”

“The situation with him and Boss is completely different,” Meis said angrily. “Don’t put ideas in his head- especially ones that are gonna get our asses handed to us when Boss gets pissed about it.” 

“You think Lio would be mad about it?” Galo asked with a nervous laugh. He could feel his face growing hotter. Maybe it was the alcohol.

“I can hear him now, kicking in our bedroom door. BANG! ‘ _Which one of you assholes told Galo to_ propose _to me?! What the fuck is wrong with you two?!’_ ”

The red-head laughed maniacally from his spot lounged across the cushions. “Hey, I’m just trying to help their relationship! Boss clearly has a fear of intimacy and I’m not saying he should jump right into the deep-end, but I think it’s clear that he won’t even get his toes wet in the kiddie pool without some sort of push.”

“And you think that push… should be marriage…”

“Serious situations call for serious actions.”

Meis rolled his eyes. “Absolute lunacy.”

\---

Several drinks later, the coffee table had been shoved aside to make room on the floor. It started after Meis sat there, saying that the armrests were uncomfortable, and then Gueira whined about how sad it was that he didn’t want to share the couch with him, even though he made no move to adjust his sprawling so that there was actually room to share. Once Gueira joined him, Galo - pretty buzzed at that point - didn’t want to be left out, and now they all were on the floor, arranged like teenagers getting ready to play spin the bottle.

The topic had circled back around to Galo’s conversation with Lio, as even though they seemed to finish up on a good note, he still felt shitty about how he handled the tail end of it all.

“Let me guess,” Meis said wearily. “He got weirdly defensive about the age thing?”

“And _yell-y!”_ Guiera called from the kitchen, working on filling his plate with the pizza they had ordered. 

“Yes!” Galo exclaimed. “Well, to the first one, I don’t think he yelled.”

“Well he yelled at us!”

“He yelled at you, Gueira,” Meis corrected. The man’s face was slightly red, but Galo couldn’t tell any difference between drunk Meis and sober Meis other than some slight swaying and the fact that he seemed sleepier. Gueira was an enigma on his own because even though Galo was positive he drank more than all of them he hardly changed at all. “Because you laughed at him.”

“You _laughed_ at him?” Galo repeated, horrified.

“No! No!” Gueira rushed back in, abandoning his plate to defend himself. “I did not laugh _at_ him, it was a nervous laugh!”

“You were laughing at your own joke,” Meis corrected again.

“You made _a joke_?” Galo gaped. 

“It was not _a joke!_ ” the other man insisted. “I just didn’t know what to say!”

Meis gave his other half a side-eye. “It was insensitive, whatever you want to call it.”

“What did he say?”

“ _‘Dude, you got pedophiled.’_ ” After his mocking impression, Meis looked pointedly at the other. “And then he laughed.”

Galo, looked up at the other general. “Dude….”

“Okay! Okay! I know it was shitty!” Gueira emphasized, throwing his hands up. “But I didn’t know what to say! I joke when I get nervous! Plus! I apologized, like _forever ago_ and Boss _has_ forgiven me! So I don’t know why you keep bringing it up!”

“Well... I didn’t do anything like that, but I did freak out a little,” Galo admitted sheepishly. “I asked him if it was even legal.”

Meis nodded with a grimace, Gueira having already retreated back to his food. “It is apparently.”

“Did you ask too?”

“No, I’m not stupid,” he chided. “But I looked it up when I saw the story trending. Age of consent is sixteen in both England and Michigan. I thought maybe if things didn’t die down we could take a ‘your brother was in an illegal underaged relationship and you knew about it’ angle and turn the criticism onto her.”

“Can’t we take the ‘your brother was abusing his boyfriend and you knew about it’ angle instead?”

“That’s a whole lot harder to prove, unfortunately.” Meis had long since switched to water and was sipping on it gingerly. “You know, one night, we all got smashed. Do you remember, Gueira? After the truck raid?”

“Ohh, yeah!” the man chimed, returning to his spot next to Meis. “We were way drunker than this though- especially Boss.”

Galo laughed as if he too remembered. “Really? I’ve never seen Lio drunk.”

“It’s _hilarious_. You think the guy has no filter now? We were all wasted but he was throwing them back like it was the end of the world.”

“Mad Burnish had managed to swipe a supply truck headed to a grocery store. It was filled with food and water and so much goddamn alcohol,” Meis recalled. “I think between all of us it was gone by the next morning.” He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. “Anyway, we had a ways to go before we could get it back to the settlement, and about halfway there we stopped for the night and celebrated. It was the best thing to happen to us for a while, so we all were excited and didn’t care so much about hangovers. We blasted the truck’s radio, danced around fires, stupid shit like that- we didn’t care.

“When things were winding down, I found Boss off a ways on a rock just looking up at the stars - though at that point I doubted he could see them properly, his vision must’ve been swimming. I think I joked about him not looking old enough to be so pissed and that I need to see his ID. He did one of those fake, sarcastic laughs and made a comment on how stupid the drinking age was in America anyways. 

“‘Don’t look at me, I didn’t make the rules.’ I told him. ‘I don’t even live here.’ He said something like ‘yeah, neither do I.’ I asked him what the drinking age was in England, he said eighteen, and I told him it was the same for Australia too, but that I thought it was too young. I said, ‘I was plenty stupid as a teenager even without the drinking. I thought I was so smart and mature, but the truth was I was an idiot just like the rest of ‘em.’ 

“Lio said ‘yeah…’ and got this look on his face, like he wasn’t quite there anymore, and said ‘he said I was mature.’ Of course, he provided zero context, so I was confused. I asked what he meant but it’s like he didn’t even hear me. ‘He told me I was so much more mature than anyone else my age,’ he said. ‘So much smarter. He could never guess just from talking with me that I was still in high school. He found teenagers to be so annoying and entitled, but I was different. I was the exception.’

“Then he put his head in his hands- almost tipped right off the rock, so I grabbed ahold of him, and he leaned against me and told me that he felt so stupid. How he felt ruined. I was still horribly confused and blind as all fuck, so I just rubbed his shoulders and told him that it was going to be alright. After a while he looked back up at me and asked me how long I had been there with him, so.” Meis shrugged. “I don’t think he even remembers. It wasn’t until we were back at the settlement that I connected the dots over what the hell he was even talking about.”

“So.. he does feel bad about it.” Galo pondered somberly. 

“He’s embarrassed,” Meis explained. “Ashamed. He thinks he’s supposed to be this leader-type that everyone looks up to, but he was tricked like that so easily. He probably feels like if he were wiser he would’ve seen it coming - it seems so obvious to everyone else, but it’s different when you’re a kid.”

“Boss was lonely,” Gueira added in. “The asshole took advantage of him, and he’s judging himself now as if he was an adult who should’ve known better, even though the reality was that he was a kid who didn’t know shit - as we all are at some point. The dickhead knew what he was doing.” 

“I tried to tell him that too- that he was just taken advantage of and that it wasn’t his fault,” Galo said, wincing. “I may have used the word ‘grooming...’”

“How’d he take that?”

“Oh, he did not like that _at all._ ”

“Yeah, can’t imagine ‘grooming’ is much better of a word to hear than ‘paedophiling,’” Meis pointed out. Next to him Gueira heaved an exaggerated sigh.

“We dealt with a lot of Burnish who were in abusive relationships with people who threatened to expose them if they left.” Gueira expressed, still glaring at the other out of the corner of his eye. “A lot of them thought that if they said yes to one thing it meant that they said yes to everything else. With Boss, it was all consensual in his mind up until a year in of living the American dream, which lines right up with ‘being a kid’ and ‘being an adult,’ so I’m sure that’s a part of the struggle too.”

Galo froze, drink stuck halfway to his lips.

“What? You think he started hating Lio cause he wasn’t a literal minor anymore?” Meis questioned incredulously.

Gueira raised his hands in a mock surrender. “Hey, I’m just sayin’, the timing is suspicious, that’s all.”

“He was eighteen before he even flew him over here. And it’s not like Boss’ looks changed much, if at all.”

“I’ m j ust sa yin’, I’m ju st s ayin’!”

“You’r e r idicu ous. D on’t say such disg u sting thi ngs so ca su ally.”

“W ha- Com e on! It’s n ot _tha t_ odd of a co n clu sion to j u mp to!”

...

“Hey, are you okay?”

Galo jolted. “What?”

“Are you alright?” Meis asked again. “You don’t look so good.”

“I don’t feel so good either.”

“Should’ve known he couldn’t hold his liquor,” Gueira mumbled with mirth. “We can leave if you’re sick of us.”

“No, ah-” Galo struggled with his words for a bit. “You said… You- You said- what did you say? Before?”

The two shared a look of confusion. “What? When?”

“Before. You-” Galo squeezed his eyes shut, pressing on the sides of his temple. “You were talking about the American dream- and-”

Gueira squinted. “Uh, I was saying that Boss’ ex was always a creepy loser, but it wasn’t until Lio was legal that he turned into a real piece of shit.”

“...That’s not what you said though…”

“That’s basically what I said,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Gueira,” Meis warned. “Tone it down, please”

“What?” Gueira started to argue, but after seeing Meis’ brow, crinkling in that way it did when he was worried and after looking, really _looking_ at Galo, he relented. “Fine, okay. What are you struggling with here?”

“Is it something we said?” Meis offered. “Did it remind you of something or…?”

Galo shook his head. “No, I- you said- What did you mean by that?”

“Mean by what?”

“Gueira said ‘consensual.’” The firefighter looked up. “What did you mean by that?”

Silence. Meis shifted uncomfortably, but continued to answer in Gueira’s place. “What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’? You do know what consensual _means_ , don’t you?”

“Yeah, but. I-” Galo hesitated. He was strangely aware of how loud every breath he took was. “Was… Was Lio…?”

Meis’ lips pursed into a tight line. “Did… Did he not tell you that?”

Galo’s heartbeat was roaring in his ears. He didn’t think-

“He shouldn’t have _had_ to tell him!” Gueira’s voice snapped. “I mean, _fuck man,_ you think the guy was beating the shit out of him and then asking politely for sex?!”

“ _Gueira!_ ” Meis barked. “ _I said tone it down!_ ”

“I’m _sorry!_ It’s hard! You know I’m no good at this stuff!”

“You _said_ you wouldn’t be so abrasive!”

“I’m trying! It’s upsetting! I-”

Galo was hyperventilating. He was aware of it, in the back of his mind, but it was a tiny pinprick in a mess of static in his head. Part of the clamor was a flood of insults- how on Earth could Galo be so _stupid_ , of _course_ Lio had gone through that! He was so _self-centered_ to not even consider it, even as Lio was telling him these horrible stories about how he _suffered_ at the hands of someone _bigger_ than him like Galo is and _taller_ than him like Galo is and _stronger_ than him _like Galo is._ And what did Galo _the big fucking idiot_ do? Ask him about getting together! Interrogate him about a relationship! What kind of despicable asshole would be thinking with his _dick_ at a time like that!

The other part was replaying memories of all the times he had touched Lio- hugged him or brushed against him without warning. He had remembered Lio looking at him with a smile, or a laugh, or returned the favor with a brief squeeze of his arm or the faintest touch against the back of his hand, but was that really how it happened? He could picture it, in his mind’s eye, Lio’s face changing in his memories from pleasant to uneasy, joyous to distressed, teasing to exhausted. It flashed through his head, flashed across Lio’s face like a glitch, erasing every happy expression he had thought he had ever seen on him without mercy. 

Even last night, Galo remembered Lio leaning into his hand and looking up at him with such intense attachment, but was that really how it happened? Lio had his hand on his, was he actually trying to pull it away? When he grasped onto his wrist was he really trying to push him off? Did Lio lace their fingers together or did Galo? He couldn’t remember anymore through the fog.

He had once handed him and his people over the Freeze Force; he had _been_ on the wrong side before, done the wrong things for the wrong people. It wasn’t completely outside the realm of possibility that-!

“I don’t feel so great,” Galo repeated. Did he say it loudly, or did it just sound like that to him? The words seem to bounce around in his dried up throat.

Gueira and Meis immediately stopped the argument Galo wasn’t even aware they were having.

“Woah,” Gueira said. He looked alarmed, but Galo didn’t know why. Meis looked like he didn’t know what to say. “Shit, look, just take some deep breaths? Okay? It’s gonna be fine. You need to relax.”

Galo nodded, a few beads of cold sweat dropped off his nose. Why was he sweating? He took a deep breath in and tried to relax as he was told. 

When Galo awoke, he was informed that he threw up all over his living room rug.

\---

Lio awoke with a start, the laptop in his lap jumping off of him to tumble off the side of his bed. The former leader had intended to get some work done and had moved all around the apartment trying to find a comfortable spot to do so, but with every new location he settled into he found that he couldn’t do anything but stare at his screen and fidget. Until he got to his bed, that is, where he stacked a mound of pillows behind him and sank into them. It was nice, it was comfortable, and it kept him upright. It was perfect. Pleased, Lio happily typed three words into a search engine before promptly passing out cold.

 _‘I haven’t been sleeping well,’_ Lio reminded himself. He was used to being tired, in a sense, but only the kind of exhaustion that came from being on his feet all day, from the stress and mental workload that came with running and planning and leading, from not having enough calories to keep his flames going, from the hurt of moving with invisible bruises that the Promare healed but his body refused to forget - but it wasn’t until the Promare left that Lio had the experience of being too tired to even fall asleep. Even after all this time Lio was still not used to the sensation.

To make matters worse, he was starting to have nightmares again. He never had them as a Burnish (or if he did he simply did not remember them upon waking) and Lio had a number of theories as to why. Perhaps he never slept deeply enough, always on the lookout. Maybe his mind was too occupied with other things. Or maybe the Promare took care of that aspect of his mind too (they did share a headspace, afterall).

 _‘How long have I been out?’_ One look at his laptop on the floor was enough to tell him that it had died at some point during his nap. Lio felt around for his phone - a cheap thing he had gotten for convenience sake - until he found it drowning in the blankets. 

It read 1:30 pm and Lio’s face pulled in discontent. He had sat down to work at around noon, about an hour or so after Meis & Gueira left, had he really wasted an hour and a half sleeping? He tossed the phone to the foot of his mattress with a scowl and flopped back into his pillows. They were also cheap things - half-filled with flimsy down that offered no support on their own, but Lio liked how they swallowed him whole when he piled them all together. It was like a reverse weighted blanket; he would feel the pressure of being enveloped from all sides but his front, but as relaxing as he found it, he had made an effort not to fall asleep like that. One too many times he had turned in his slumber and awoken from dreams of suffocating only to find that he actually was.

Unconsciously, his hand wandered up to his throat, rubbing up along the lines up his neck to his jaw. Smothering himself in pillows and being strangled was not nearly the same thing, but the feeling of being without air reminded him all the same.

Once, when he was real young, a bird had flown into one of the windows and Lio had followed his father out to investigate. He had burst into tears after his father wrung the little thing’s neck. He had explained to him that it was for the best, that it was necessary, and that the bird would only suffer and die slowly if he had not done it. Lio understood as much as he could at that age, but the image haunted him for a while in a way that he couldn’t make sense of until at least ten years after the fact. It wasn’t so much the violent act of mercy that disturbed him, it was how easy it was for his father to do so. He had snapped the defenseless creature's neck like a toothpick with no hesitation, and even though it was a kindness within context, Lio simply could not understand how anyone could do something like that without feeling at least slightly terrible about it.

It was hard to tell if he was an anomaly or not. He had personally seen so many people act cruel for the sake of cruelty that it almost seemed like the selfish norm, but then there were people like Galo, who did everything so selflessly like it was a natural second-nature. Lio could only think of maybe three people that he felt strongly enough to want to hurt and even then those were mostly “in the moment” experiences. 

He couldn’t even hate Aleka, who seemed hell-bent on hating him. He understood that, in a way. He did take away the only family she had left in an abruptly brutal manner. She had no idea that when she left his house that day it would be the last time she saw him, which had to be traumatically upsetting. Still, he didn’t understand why she was going after him so many years later. Why not right after the Second Blaze, when his face was up on every screen? Did she think she wouldn’t have the public on her side so fresh after being saved from a near-apocalypse? 

Which brought Lio to the other question he had been mulling over all day: why publicly? He didn’t believe there was any statute of limitations for murder, so it wasn’t like she couldn’t take him to court over it. He had been pardoned for his quote-unquote crimes as a part of some of the ongoing negotiations for Bunish reparations, but those were mostly terrorist related. She could probably gather enough proof to at least open an investigation (if one didn’t already exist) and get a warrant out for his arrest or charge him or something, but she didn’t. At least, not from what Lio could tell. Instead, she seemed entirely focused on holding his trial in the court of public opinion.

This aspect didn’t bother Lio as much - when one’s reputation was ten-percent saving the world and ninety-percent burning people’s houses down it was hard to bring it down even lower in a way that Lio cared - but he was still troubled over Aleka, specifically. He didn’t think he wanted her forgiveness, or even an apology. Maybe he felt guilty, but there wasn’t anything she could do about that. Was he worried about her? He did like her, once upon a time ago.

Lio didn’t know what he was feeling, but he did know that her being so open with her hostility struck him wrongly.

He tried to reach out to her; he had made a Twitter account just for that reason earlier that morning and messaged her: _“Aleka, this is Lio. If you want to talk I can meet with you and do that. Let me know.”_

When she didn’t answer after ten minutes, he had left his phone on his nightstand to charge while he took a scalding shower. By the time he got out, there was a barrage of notifications brandishing that horrid bird. The first of which informed him that Aleka had @-ed his username. She had responded to his message by tweeting a screenshot of it and writing: _“talk where everyone can see you then if you have nothing to hide.”_ The rest of the alerts were for the dozens, if not hundreds, of random people attacking his profile. Lio only got through a few of the more vulgar ones before he cleared them all and hastily deleted his account. 

He felt a knot form in the pit of his gut. He will certainly see that incident reported somewhere at some point. He knew he told Galo that he would wait and consult him before doing anything, but really didn’t consider trying to talk to Aleka as “anything” and he certainly didn’t think she would spin it around on him like that. 

Lio sat up. Speaking of Galo, he should probably call and check to make sure Meis and Gueira weren’t hassling him too much. He crawled downwards until he reached his phone and flopped lazily onto his stomach.

 _“Hey, Boss,”_ came Meis voice. Confused, Lio pulled the phone away to check the name on the screen. He was sure he called Galo’s number.

“Why are you answering Galo’s phone?”

_“I’m doing fine, thanks for asking.”_

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious,” Lio jested sarcastically. “What did you two do to Galo? Where is he?”

 _“He’s asleep. Completely passed out.”_ Then, with a sigh Meis added: _“Are you sure about this one, Boss? The man is a lightweight.”_

“Our definition of lightweight is pretty different than most, you know,” Lio reminded, idly picking at pieces of fuzz clinging to his sheets. “What did you force on him anyways?”

_“Those awful hipster bullshit things our neighbor unloaded on us a while back.”_

Lio groaned. “Those things? They tasted like raw potatoes. Did you just use him as a human bin to get rid of them?”

 _“Well, he seemed to think so too, but he kept drinking them, so,”_ Meis replied, sidestepping the last question. Lio could hear some crinkling of a can from the otherside. _“Oh wow, the percentage’s higher than I thought.”_

Lio rolled his eyes. “If you wound up poisoning him, I’ll never forgive you.”

_“Don’t worry, he’s breathing.”_

He hummed skeptically before asking, “How did everything go? Does he seem okay?”

There was a moment where his ex-general didn’t say anything that lasted a bit too long for Lio’s comfort. _“Yeah, we talked, and it seemed to help level him out. It was very, uh, therapeutic.”_

“Hey, where’s Gueira?” The pause could’ve come from him searching for the proper vocabulary he wanted, but Lio wasn’t sure. Meis was a hard read most of the time, but Gueira was honest to a fault. “Can I talk to him?”

 _“He’s cleaning up right now,”_ Meis said way too quickly. Lio could feel his scowl coming back. 

“Then why can’t I hear him?” The man was always singing some ridiculous rock ballad or performance piece at an equally ridiculous volume when he was made to clean. Lio at first wondered if he did it to annoy everyone around him so much that they never asked him to clean again, but after learning of Meis’ musical background he wondered if he was trying to get him to join in and was just really ignorant to how awful he sounded. If Meis ever did, Lio was never around to see it.

 _“I’m on the other side of the place,”_ he answered smoothly. Lio found the lack of annoyance in his voice at his questioning cagey. _“In Galo’s room. Making sure the idiot doesn’t drown in his own drool for you.”_

“‘On the other side’?” Lio echoed incredulously. “That place is tiny- practically a shoebox, there is no ‘other side.’ Tell me what happened over there.”

 _“Nothing happened. Everything is fi_ ne. _”_ Lio heard it, that little inflection at the end of his sentence that Meis never had in his normal, even tone. Many nights of bullshit poker played with made-up rules and half a deck had Lio an expert at reading his rare tells.

“I’m coming over,” he declared, already on his feet.

 _“No!”_ the phone blurted. _“No, Boss! Everything is fine! There is no need-”_

“I’ll be there in five.”

_Click_

“Shit!” Meis almost spiked his phone to the floor in a fit. He spun around, looking over at his partner in crime, furiously scrubbing on his hands and knees at a growing stain on the living room rug. “Boss is on his way. How’s it looking?”

Guiera looked up at him, then back at the sudsy mess of tattered fabric and threads underneath his scrub brush. “Uhhh….”

Meis fell to his knees to inspect the discolored stain himself. “What the fuck is this hideous thing made of anyways? Weaved shoelaces?” Meis looked up at his boyfriend and met his stressed expression with one of dangerous determination. “Let’s just throw it away.”

“We can’t just throw away someone else's stuff!”

“Sure we can! We’re doing him a favor getting rid of this disaster of interior design!” He leapt to his feet and barely gave the other man enough time to scramble out of the way before he yanked the offending rug up. The sight underneath of a huge splash of stark desaturation against the wood floor made them both audibly gasp.

“ _Gueiraaa….!_ ” Meis cried in a stage whisper, dropping the fabric to drag his hands down his face in distress. “What did you _use_?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! I just grabbed the first thing I could find under the sink!” 

Meis grabbed the jug, emptied and discarded near the side of the couch. The label read proudly: **Clean Ox!** **®** **Laundry: All-in-One Heavy Duty Detergent & Softener ** _Now with White Revive™ & Color Booster™ Power! _

“Gueira! This is practically _bleach!_ ”

“Aahhhhh, I’m sorry! I didn’t know, I panicked!”

“How much was in here to begin with?!”

Guiera sputtered, gaze flicking around the room nervously as he tried to recall. “I- I- don’t remember, maybe it was still full?”

Meis’ eye threatened to fly out of his head. “ _You poured a whole jug of bleach and god knows what else onto the floor?!_ You didn’t even dilute it with water- you’re supposed to do that!” He stopped, suddenly unsure, and pulled the bottle closer to his face to squint at the tiny font. “I mean, right?”

“I don’t know! Stop yelling at me!” 

The taller peered down at the other, busy nearly pulling his fluffy hair out. “Go wash your hands right now. You’re not wearing gloves and this shit’s horrible for your skin.” 

Guiera nodded and hopped up to obey. Meis hurried off to the bathroom to yank a towel off the rack. He threw it over the wood stain to try and soak up any chemicals left over and rolled up the hideous rug to shove it out of the way next to the abandoned coffee table, before rushing to Gueira’s side at the kitchen sink.

“How’s it going? How’s your hands?” he asked hurriedly. 

“They sting a bit,” he said, lifting them up from the rising bubbles. “But I think they’ll be okay.”

Meis let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good.”

“Hey, look what I found!” Guiera said with a grin. He shook out his hands and grabbed the item in question from off the counter. “Tada~! I found it in a drawer looking for soap!”

“A sharpie?” Meis observed tiredly. “What, you wanna draw on Galo’s face? Don’t you think Boss will be livid enough with us already? It smells like we tried to clean a goddamn crime scene in here.”

“No, dummy,” Guiera scolded, bopping him lightly with the pen. “Look, see-” He tapped the cap, colored a chocolate brown. “It’s the same color as his floor! We can just color the stain in!”

“That’s- That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Meis said with a glare. “Let’s do it.”

The other Burnish bounced excitedly on his heels. “See? Everything coming together! It’ll be fine!”

“Well, I don’t know about ‘fine,’” Meis said, checking the time on his phone. “Boss should be here any minute. I’m gonna open these windows, air the place out. You get to work on filling in the stain.”

“You got it!”

Meis started in the kitchen and worked his way around with quick haste, prying open every window that would open. The noise of the city was pouring in at full volume by the time he made it to Galo’s door. He peeked into the room, noting a single window that may be openable before noticing how still the firefighter was.

 _‘Oh fuck,’_ was the thought that shot through Meis’ head. Did they actually poison him? He moved closer. _‘Oh fuck, oh fuck oh fuckohfuckohfuckoh-’_

Galo suddenly groaned in his sleep and rolled over, hugging a stray pillow tightly against his chest, snoring softly.

Meis let out the sharp breath he was holding, utterly relieved. He popped open the window just a smidge, watching Galo carefully to see if the noise disturbed him any (it didn’t, the man was _out_ ). Satisfied, he left the room, shut off the lights, and closed the door behind him. 

“I feel like I’m tucking in a child,” Meis lamented, making his way to where Gueira worked diligently on the living room floor. 

“He’s not so annoying when he’s unconscious,” Gueira remarked with a cackle. “Check it out! It’s not looking so bad!” 

“Huh, you’re right, not bad at all.” The red-head was already halfway done. Maybe they could pull this off after all. “And you found a candle?”

“Yeah, I found it laying around. Thought it might help with the chemical smell.”

Meis observed the candle, a bare wax cylinder with colorful layers on the coffee table. He had to get pretty close to get a hint of any scent at all, and he doubted it would do any real work in permeating the smell of laundry overkill, alcohol, sharpie, and extraordinary failure in time, but every little bit helped, he supposed.

“Hmm, tropical. Good thinking, babe.” He could hear Gueira hum giddily in response. Pulling out his phone again, Meis saw that nearly fifteen minutes had passed since the Boss’ call. _‘Where is he-’_

A sound, metal clanging and crashing boomed outside, loud and sudden. Both men jumped, but only Meis hit the table. The candle toppled, rolling with the unexpected incline at a surprising speed.

While bleach is not particularly flammable, fabric softener and other chemicals commonly found in laundry products are.The rug, soaked in _stain fighting power!_ , promptly burst into flames the moment the tiny lit wick hit it.

Gueira _shrieked_. Meis stumbled back.Thinking quickly, Gueira scrambled to grab at the towel and threw it over the rug to smother the rising fire. The towel, previously used to soak up detergent from the floor, erupted with an even greater intensity. Gueira screamed louder, almost indignant at the flames' betrayal. 

“Fire extinguisher!” Meis shouted through the panic, finally finding his voice. “Where the hell does this guy keep the fire extinguisher?!”

“How the hell should I know! I don’t live here! Oh- wait I-!” Gueira spun around, pointing towards the kitchen. “Under the sink! I think I saw one!”

The two rushed the kitchen, tripping over themselves as they clambered towards the cabinet. Meis was able to reach first and yanked open both doors, Gueira reached through to grab the tool. They both rushed back, the smoke detector beeping, still managing to knock into each other as they rounded the breakfast bar. Gueira pointed the nozzle, Meis pulled the pin, Gueira hit the release. A heavy stream of foam shot out and made quick work of the small bonfire.

The smoke alarm was background noise to their heavy breathing. Once the foam started deflating, Meis let out an alleviated laugh. It was short lived, as Gueira swiftly elbowed him in the ribs and directed his attention to the windows. He turned his head and saw Lio standing on the fire escape, looking in on them blankly, with nothing but plain homicide in his eyes.

\---

Lio left their apartment building in a huff, fully intending to power walk his way over to Galo and kick his friends’ asses. He was certain that they were hiding something from him. First they try to censor the initial Twitter shit-storm from him and now this? The fact that everyone had been treating him as if he were fragile, unable to handle or take anything, pissed him off to no end. He was an adult who could handle himself just _fine-_

The sudden yank on his arm seized him from his thoughts, and Lio found himself face to face with an infuriated-looking woman.

“Aleka-  ” His voice had left him before he had a chance to even think about it. “  Wha-  What are you doing here?”

“You said you wanted to talk,” Aleka replied haughtily. “Well, then. Talk!” Lio looked up from her to the cameras lined up behind her, then to the small crowd that had begun to form at the commotion. 

“Let go of me,” he commanded, ripping his arm free. “If you want to come inside and talk then sure, we can do that. _Without_ your camera crew.”

Hands on her hips, she shot back, “Anything you need to say to me you can say to everyone if you have nothing to hide.”

“Those are my terms. You can take it or leave it, but I’m not going to budge. I have no obligation to speak with you at all.” He had rolled his shoulders back, stood as tall as he could and spoke with authority. He was the leader of the Mad Burnish, goddamnit, he was not going to be pushed around.

“You have _no room_ to be making demands here,” came the bitter reply. 

“Fine then,” Lio stated, resuming his journey. “Our conversation ends here. Have a nice day.”

Aleka kept pace, shoving her way in front of him. “Our conversation is _not_ over until I say it is!”

Lio said nothing, maneuvering past her to continue down the sidewalk. People trying to pass by either stopped to stare as the cameramen followed after him, or struggled to find a way through, save for a single man in a brown jacket who stepped aside politely to allow him to pass. Lio nodded to him in gratitude. 

“Why did you kill my brother?” Aleka demanded. She was putting herself in front of him at every opportunity. “Don’t you even dare deny that you did!”

Lio remained silent. He stared straight ahead - he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction if he could help it.

“He loved you! And you _killed_ him! What do you have to say for yourself?”

He stopped briefly when he almost tripped over Aleka’s feet. The men and their bulky cameras were closing in on him. He may have been able to see his own reflection in their gaping lenses, but he refused to look at them for long enough to tell. He recovered from the stumble and pressed forward.

“He took care of you! Provided for you! Opened up his home to you and what did you do? How did you repay him?” 

_‘What am I? A stray dog he adopted?’_ Lio thought snidely. Aleka and the cameras were tightly packed now, forcing him to slow his pace considerably. He could feel his lungs tightening.

She was saying something else to him but at this point he was doing his best to block her out. He was practically grinding against the buildings, harsh brick scraping against his shoulder as he moved. A camera swung out in front of him and he had no choice but to stop. Ah, so he _could_ see his reflection.

“Get out of my way.” he ground out. He directed it to no one in particular, just loud enough for them all to hear. “You have no right to trap me in like this. Move.” The cameras _whirr_ ed around him as their lenses flexed. 

“Answer my question, Lio.” Something jolted within him. He hadn’t heard his name from her in so long, he wasn’t prepared for the feeling. Nevertheless, he kept his face neutral. 

“I don’t have to answer anything, _Aleka._ ” He had spoken it evenly, but he had spit out her name as if it were sour to him. He felt like he was losing control, pressed against the wall of some building on this busy street, with big void eyes watching his every move from a too close distance. At this point Lio wasn’t sure if he could even breathe without fogging up the glass. “What you’re doing is harassment. Leave me alone.”

Blue eyes bugged out. “What _I’m_ doing?! Are you seriously going to treat _me_ like a criminal after what _you’ve_ done?!” Her round cheeks were reddening as she spat, “ _You_ are a murderer!”

Lio did quite know what caused it. Aleka had moved in even closer to him and maybe the cameramen were following suit or were shoved around by her movements. There were also a lot of people gathering around them now and even more just trying to get around - it’s possible that someone in the crowd had knocked into one of them. Lio didn’t know the reason (or even if he could rule out that it was actually done on purpose to aggravate him), but in any case, the end result was that a heavy camera was slammed into the back of his head, knocking him against the brick wall. 

He shoved the nearest crewmember, creating just enough space for him to reach the end of the building. He could do nothing but fume silently as they boxed him in immediately after. Aleka was once again shouting something at him, but he was too busy trying to escape to pay her any attention. Every step he tried to take, a giant lens would surge forward into him, forcing him back. 

It was familiar, in a way; huddled against a wall as a voice insulted him, as he tried to avoid being hit. Though Lio had hoped he would never have to experience it again, he couldn’t help but find the bitter irony of his situation darkly risible.

Something crashed at his feet. He had just enough time to recognize it as a flower pot before a voice drew his attention upward.

Leaning out her window, a woman with long brown hair demanded for the crowd to disperse, for them to leave him alone. Lio recognized her from the settlement, one of the survivors of the Parnassus. She yanks up another flower pot from her window and heaves it towards the crowd below. Another voice joins from ground level behind the mob out of Lio’s view, a man this time. The ex-leader thought it sounded familiar but without a face he couldn’t quite place it. He also shouted for Lio’s freedom, and judging from the yelping and complaints that followed he was getting them to move whether they wanted to obey him or not. 

In the confusion, Lio had slipped away into the alley, quickly hustling down and around a corner between even more buildings until he found a pathway - just big enough to avoid being called a gap, but only barely - leading out to the next street over. With this, even if Aleka had seen him escape she wouldn’t be able to follow him. At least, not with her personal paparazzi in tow. Squeezing through, he came out on the other side a bit jostled and no less on edge. No one was looking at him, he knew that, but he could not shake the feeling of being watched. He found himself jumping from one foot to the next as he waited for the crosswalk signal and felt claustrophobic moving with the other people crossing.

Once on the other side, he darted into the closest alleyway once more. As soon as he was away from other people, he felt the knot in his heart loosen. He was on Galo’s street, now he just needed to get to his building. 

_‘Staying out of sight, just like old days,’_ Lio thought. Shielding his eyes from the high sun, he took in his vertical surroundings and planned his path. Two steps back gave him enough space for a running start towards a closed dumpster that gave him enough height to leap for the bottom of a fire escape. He grabbed ahold of the metal with ease, allowing his body to swing forward to its want before whipping his legs back. Once his knees locked around the railing he released his grip to dangle upside down for a few seconds. The stretch on his body felt as nice as it was needed. If he was asked, of course he would say that freedom to live as a normal human being was his ultimate happiness - it had been the goal for his fellow Burnish so naturally he would feel the same. However, if Lio was honest with himself, he did miss the adrenaline that came with being on the run. He was cognizant enough of himself at the time to be well aware that he was living an anarchist dream, the ones edgy teens idolized. Lio and his gang of badass bikers were _cool._ He didn’t have many opportunities to feel like that anymore.

With that thought, he heaved himself up and over. He clanged his way up several flights of stairs and one ladder to the rooftop. The buildings on this side of the street were all reachable from one another by a single step at least and low-risk leap at most, and as long as he kept to the center of the roofs he could avoid being seen from the street as well. 

The tension held in his shoulders dropped, falling away like snow on the face of a mountain, rushing down his back in an avalanche. It felt incredibly freeing to be… _unreachable_ , for a change. Ever since the Second Blaze he had rarely been alone. He was busy living with Meis and Gueira, spending time with Galo and working with the Burning Rescue crew, delivering news and aid to his people, or meeting with an endless amount of bureaucrats. Even when he was alone, that time was spent preparing for the future times where he wasn’t. This was the first time that he was alone and wasn’t really doing much else about it. He was entirely focused on his walking and that’s it. It was almost relaxing - so much so that it wasn’t until his third hop to the next building over that he remembered where he was going and why.

Lio picked up the pace.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his generals - of course not, he trusted his friends with his life - and he knew that they would never intentionally hurt Galo, it was just… well… The three of them were like separate chemicals, and combined in just the right way and handled with just the right care they mixed together perfectly fine. The issue was that the compounds were volatile enough on their own that Lio was sure there had to be _some_ situation, some combination or environmental changes that would cause a reaction and Lio simply had not run nearly enough experimental scenarios to know when exactly the three would mix and when they would blow up in his face. 

Nothing too terribly explosive had happened thus far, but Lio had gotten glimpses of possible exigencies before. Neither Meis nor Gueira had been too thrilled about the firefighter’s continued presence in their lives, and though they knew and appreciated all that he had done to save them, they found his personality too “grating” and “annoying” and “too golden retriever-like” who said things that were “too nice and optimistic to be genuinely felt by an actual human being.”

They didn’t see the depth that Lio did. There was something about Galo that rang with an unsaid intelligence. All of the people that Lio knew and would classify as “smart” were that way because they knew a lot of things or could solve a riddle quickly. Galo, if he was honest, would not be making an appearance on Jeopardy within his lifetime (save for some sort of cruel joke), nor would he be any type of scholar (Lio had plenty of evidence that suggested he was incapable of doing any sort of presentation or lecture without adding in his own sound effects). No, Galo was not _smart_ no matter how he looked at it, but he was an entirely different breed of brilliant. He was creative and inventive, resourceful and determined. 

Once, a truck in the Burning Rescue station had gotten a dent. It wasn’t a large one, but it happened to be stopping some mechanics on the other side of the large panel from turning properly. Lio had returned with Galo after an extended lunch break before he was to start the second half of his double-shift to find the whole team in a sour mood over it. Apparently the whole panel would have to be removed and replaced which would take at least a week and they couldn’t very well drive a truck with that much of its inner workings exposed. It was such a major inconvenience and hassle that everyone else begrudgingly accepted and it took Galo five minutes of thought to fix. Lio had watched with abject bewilderment as the man returned with a plunger and pulled the dent out of existence as if it were never there. Galo had made Lio finally understand the meaning of the phrase “if it’s stupid but it works, than its not stupid” and it was hard to explain that to other people in so many words.

Lio was never particularly good at talking. He was straight-forward and honest. He said what he said and he meant it, always. He had no problem with that. It was only when people asked him to explain himself that he stumbled. He never could understand why people just wouldn’t take what he said at face-value and believe that was exactly how he meant it. 

With the Burnish, his leadership came naturally. They all could sense his flames and understand that he had great strength and the ability to wield it. They all could wordlessly understand that someone saddled with that much responsibility and control was someone to be trusted and followed unquestionably. There were a few that resisted, but after the rewards of safety and food and rescue had come as a result, those doubts were quickly snuffed out. Now that he was human, people were asking him to show his work every time he said anything and it frustrated Lio to think that he simply did not have that capability within him.

On occasion he gave it thought, and believed it must have come from his childhood. “Why” was a forbidden word in his home. He was expected to do something the minute he was told and nothing short of that. _Why_ did he have to take extra courses when he was doing just fine in school? _Why_ did he have to learn piano and archery and horseback-riding even though those things had nothing in common and he found them boring, or they were painful, or he was simply terrible at them? _Why_ couldn’t he shop for his own clothes and picked out things he liked? _Why_ wasn’t he allowed to accept invitations from his schoolmates and go places like they were? _Why_ was it that the only people his age that were permitted over were the dreadfully dull sons and daughters of someone of importance, and only under supervision, and only when scheduled by his parents? 

Many of the why’s he had thoughts of never reached his voice. After all, Lio only needed to be answered with non-answers such as “because we said so,” “we’re your parents and we know better,” and “you’ll understand when you’re older” just a few dozen times over before he learned his lesson well enough. He knew it was pointless to ask “why” of people growing up, so he supposes he just never asked himself much either. 

He had gotten angry when Meis and Guiera asked him why he liked Galo. He just did, why did they need a reason?

He was annoyed when so many politicians asked him why the ex-Burnish needed aid. It should be obvious to anyone who wasn’t a complete psychopath - why did he have to humor them by formulating an answer?

He had gotten frustrated when Galo questioned him about Ellias. He had wanted to know _why_ he felt like things were how they were. Lio didn’t know. All he knew is that he felt shitty about it all. 

His fingers wandered up to his earlobe, checking that he remembered to put his earring back on after his shower. He had, but it did little to distract him. He felt this weird, confusing combination of guilt and disgust and shame and embarrassment and sadness and anger build in him whenever he had to face the topic and so he’d rather not do so more than necessary. It just had him feeling worse and worse and he’d rather lock it away and never deal with it again then continue to drown himself in things he couldn’t change - and that’s what frustrated him the most; knowing _why_ wouldn’t change anything. 

All day long he could meditate on _why_ he fell in love with such an abusive dickhead, or _why_ he thought he was smart enough as a teenager to make such huge decisions that ruined his life, or _why_ he was too scared to leave, or _why_ he wasn’t good enough for his parents to like or his boyfriend to be kind to or for Aleka to believe, but it wouldn’t change anything that happened. It wouldn’t reverse time and undo all the terrible events. It wouldn’t bring back the dead or make Lio feel any less repulsed at himself or the memories. No, everyone else may be satisfied as if they solved a great mystery, but where would Lio be?

Lio could dig through the filth and ash of his past life and probably find every buried answer to make every “why” he was ever asked happy. 

Why was it that Lio couldn’t see Ellias for who he really was from the start? Because he was blind. Why didn’t he seek out his parents when the dust settled? Because he was a horrid son. Why didn’t he find it creepy that a much older man was interested in him? Because Lio arrogantly thought himself as special. Why did he run away from the only roof over his head that he had ever known? Because he was stupid. Why didn’t he leave when he had every chance to? Because he was weak. Why did he give into him? Because he thought he deserved it. Why did he kill him? Because he wanted to.

Lio grasped tightly onto the ladder overtop the fire escape on Galo’s building. He felt sick, he wondered what happened to his pleasant stroll. He worked on calming himself down, shoving everything that had risen up within him back down into its cage - locked away to be forgotten again - but before he could, one last question bubbled forth.

Why couldn’t Lio just _love_ Galo? 

Because he was scared to. 

The former leader took deep breaths. Back when he was Burnish, the flames filled him, sealing up every crack and imperfection in his mind and soul. He had the fire power equal to that of a hundred Burnish swelling within him at all times and he was never alone because of it. He had a million things to think about at any given moment while on the run, but now that the Promare were gone and he was living life as any normal person should, he was hollow. The void the Promare filled was vacant once more and oftentimes Lio had nothing left to think about but just how cold and empty it was inside of him. The controversy in question was attempting to fan flames in his heart that were no longer there.

Lio steeled himself with one final mental shove. He was fine now, perfectly detached from his previous thoughts. He let them float off with the wind as he descended the steep staircase, maybe they would stay away for longer this time. 

He came to right above his destination and found that, instead of more stairs, a ladder would be leading him to Galo’s floor. He supposed it made sense, conserving space along the building’s outer wall and all, but the ladder was pulled up and stuck. Cursing under his breath, Lio tried to jiggle it loose, but it appeared to be so disused that it was rusted shut. After the day he had, Lio had no patience for such insulting defiance, so he didn’t even think twice about bracing himself against the railings and kicking the damn thing with all his might. The rust popped and snapped, the heavy ladder fell fast and hard, hitting the metal grating below with a huge _clang._

Lio winced. If any of Galo’s neighbors looked outside and saw him, a stranger on the fire escape, they may think he was trying to break in. He wouldn’t blame them, he surely looked suspicious out here, but he would like to avoid that outcome. Luckily, as he could see from the floor above, Galo’s windows were open, so he could just quickly slip inside and avoid conflict. Once his feet touched the floor however, he heard a very distinctive _fwoom_. 

He whipped his head to the right to see that there was a fire in Galo’s apartment. It stretched greedily at the ceiling but it was not yet tall enough to reach. It was high enough that Lio could clearly see it over the couch, but it was just slightly smaller than Guiera, who Lio could hear screaming hysterically inside. Meis sprung up into view yelling something indistinctive that he couldn’t quite make out through the sound of fire and the static noise in his own mind. Lio felt like he was watching them on TV - like he was watching a comedy skit on a screen perform a controlled joke as opposed to witnessing his friends through a window committing arson. 

Lio watched blankly as Guiera made an appearance to rush blindly into the kitchen with Meis. The taller had tripped over the other on the way in, causing them both to stumble off-stage as the smoke detector provided the well-timed laugh track. They came back armed with a fire extinguisher, and - to their credit - properly smothered the flames, but this was no comfort to Lio. 

He had trusted them alone for a handful of hours and Galo was nowhere to be seen and his apartment was coated in smoke. He pressed his palms into the top window pane and stared, wide-eyed and furious inside. Certainly this was the explosive reaction he had known was coming, but he didn’t think they would take the metaphor so literal. 

Guiera spotted him first, leering into the apartment with enough heat behind his glare to melt glass. His change in mood was instantaneous, flipping from relief to dread faster than an Olympic gymnast. He elbowed Meis in the middle of a laugh, the result of nervous tension leaving his body only for it to slam right back into him as he too spotted Lio. 

For a moment none of them moved. The pair hardly breathed, as if their leader was a wild animal and if they stood still long enough he would get bored and leave. Instead, Lio slank in through the window smoothly and stalked towards them. He reached the back of the couch and gripped it so tight that the fabric made a small noise in complaint that sounded piercing in the silence left behind when the smoke detector decided it had done enough screaming. 

Lio looked to the kitchen, where stacks of discarded cans and bottles sat almost in decoration. He looked to the source of the fire, a smouldering pile of burnt fabric had started to reveal itself under the foam as did a noxious smell punctuated by hints of peach and ocean breeze. It was a short distance from there to the large discolored stain on the floor, half scribbled in with marker. Lio dragged his eyes upwards to see that while the ceiling was not burnt, there was a distinctive yellow-gray mark left by the smoke that would surely bleed through even the thickest layers of paint.

Finally, he let his gaze fall on the former generals in front of him, standing at attention, looking like wanted men at the foot of the gallows. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you two.”

Gueira, clutching the extinguisher tightly, accidentally hit the trigger, and gave a yelp when a microburst of foam was discharged.

“It…” Meis began calmly, “was an accident.” 

“How the fuck do you set a fire in the middle of someone’s apartment floor _accidentally?_ ” Lio hissed. “You two aren’t even Burnish anymore, why was fire coming into play here _at all?”_

“Well! See!” Gueira piped up. “It started when Galo-”

“Oh? And where is Galo?”

The two shared an uneasy look that only made Lio’s eye start twitching before Meis answered. “He’s in his room. Sleeping still.”

“So let me get this straight: you are going to blame this-” Lio gestured wildly across the room. “This _disaster zone_ on the only man here who is not currently conscious?”

Meis pursed his lips while Gueira looked down at his feet. “No…” they replied together.

“We weren’t going to say that he _caused_ all this,” Gueira started. “It just started when he got sick and passed out-”

“He _what_ ?” Their leader snapped. “He got _what_?” Meis shut his eyes as tight as they could go. He was hoping to omit that part of the story, though he couldn’t be mad at his significant other since he had no idea how he was planning on avoiding it himself.

“He drank too much! He ejected his guts on his rug and then passed out! We put him to bed and tried to clean up and it all went downhill from there…”

“Clean up with _what_ ?!” Lio heard his own voice raise up in octaves. “Gasoline _?!_ I mean, my god, that doesn’t explain anything! How does one go from cleaning to burning?! And then you try to hide it from me-! Who do you two take me for?! I-!”

“Boss,” Meis interjected. “We fucked up.”

“We’re so sorry, Boss!” Gueira added, almost pleading. “We tried to make things easier for you and it completely backfired! We’ll fix it, we swear!”

Lio folded his arms and glowered. The recognition was appreciated, but it did little to change the situation. “Well? How are you planning on fixing it?”

“We’ll help clean up and pay for any damages,” Meis said with a nod.

Lio mulled it over in angry silence, before dropping the mood completely to let out a dejected sigh. “No, that won’t do. You two need your money.” He let his arms unfold to support his body as he leaned against the couch tiredly. “I’ll figure something out. Consider this another payment for allowing me to stay in your apartment as an unemployed vagrant.”

“You’re employed! You’re helping the Burnish! That's an important job!” Gueira protested before adding on more quietly, “You just aren’t being paid for it…”

Lio’s response was to sink forward until his head _clunked_ uselessly against the couch’s back into his arms and groan. He could feel two bodies settle in on either side of him on the cushions.

“Boss,” he heard Meis say from his left. “We’re sorry things are so shit right now.” He felt a hand on his shoulder, coaxing him to release the tense muscles he held there.

“Yeah, but try not to stress too much,” came Gueira’s voice to his right. “We’re gonna get through this even if Meis and I have to burn every apartment in the city. I promise!”

Lio didn’t have to look at Meis to see the drained look he was giving his boyfriend, he could feel the worn expression coming off him in waves, bouncing off the oblivious man, too distracted with his attempts to help to notice. 

Lio gave a small laugh despite himself, looking up at the two of them. “You two are the worst.”

Meis had begun to return the gesture, but his expression rapidly turned to concern. His hand moved from Lio’s shoulder to his forehead, pushing back some of his hair away from his left temple. “Boss, you’re bleeding.”

Gueira started, craning his body to have a look for himself, but Lio was too quick to pull away. “Oh, that- That’s nothing, I must’ve-” He touched the wound, previously hidden by his thick hair to find that it was damp. It was only a little bit of blood, and knowing how much head wounds bleed anyways, he doubted it was anything more than a scrape. However, before he could protest further, Meis had tugged him back down to his level, kneeling on the couch.

“It’s not deep, but it’s a long gash,” he observed. 

“I’ll see if I can find a med kit,” Gueira offered, heading off to the bathroom.

“Guys, it’s fine. It’s just a scrape,” Lio huffed.

Meis squinted at him. “How did you scrape the side of your head like this?” 

Lio winced. It wasn’t like he wasn’t going to tell them at all, but he wasn’t thrilled to have it come up so soon.

“I may have left the apartment building to find Aleka waiting for me.”

“ _What?!_ ” 

“What?” Gueira shouted, hurling himself back into the room. “What? What happened?”

“That bitch knows where we live now!” Meis announced angrily, rising to his feet. 

“ _What?!_ ” he squawked. “How?” His body titled to direct his next question at Lio, still bracing against the couch’s back from when Meis pulled him down. “Did she attack you?”

“Attack me?” Lio echoed with a roll of his eyes. “Please. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Then what happened?”

Lio rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “One of the cameramen she had with her knocked into me.” At their alarmed expressions, Lio quickly rose to reassure. “It’s not a big deal! I just got pushed into a wall and ran up against it wrong, that’s all!”

“She had cameras?” the red-head queried, perturbed.

Meis jumped in next. “What kind of cameras? Handheld ametuear ones or news station?”

“I guess the latter-” Lio was interrupted when they both whipped out their phones. “Wha- Guys! Come on! We don’t need to do this right now-!”

A clip had started to play on Meis’ phone that Gueira leaned over to read out: “‘Fotia Attacks Camera Crew’ what...?”

“I did no such thing!” Lio insisted, rounding the couch to take a look for himself. He could see a blur of people and clothing on the tiny screen. “They wouldn’t get out of my way, I was just trying to get through!” But there he saw himself, clear as day, shoving a camera away in a manner that sure looked overly aggressive. “Goddamnit…”

“So when did they shove you?” 

“Right before that clip started, it would seem…”

“A purposeful decision, to be sure,” Meis muttered angrily. 

Guiera looked up, studying Lio with a serious expression. Lio recognized it; it was a rare face reserved for when they were planning raids, or figuring out escape plans. It was for times so heavy that not even the lightest joke could float its way through to the surface, and Lio only needed to see it once to understand that Gueira was not the Mad Burnish leader before him simply and only because he was strong. 

Whatever was coming next Lio was sure to dislike.

“You can’t go back home.”

He knew it.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Lio shot back. It was pathetic, but it was the only thing in his arsenal at this point. He wouldn’t even dare try to argue against any reasoning for the demand. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew the logic behind the decision was sound.

“Maybe they’ll go away at a later point, but right now it’s too risky.”

“We don’t even know if they are still there!”

“No, but even if they aren’t right now they are sure to come back if they know you’re there.”

“Have to agree with Gueira, Boss,” Meis offered, flicking through his feed. He grimaced at what he saw. “You should stay here with Galo.”

“First of all, I would have to clear that with Galo first and after he sees this-” Lio threw a hand out at the still smoking apartment. “-I don’t know if he’ll be entirely on board with that.”

Gueira made a disapproving noise. “Don’t be stupid, Boss. We all know that you could spit in that guy’s face and ask for the shirt off his back and not only would he give you everything he was wearing but he’d also apologize for being slow about it.”

“Second of all,” Lio continued, undeterred. “Where will you two go? The world knows you two as much as they do me - you are just as much in danger as I am.”

Meis shook his head. “Have to disagree with you there, Boss. She’s focused solely on you. If she wanted to get at the people close to you, she would’ve done it already.”

“Yeah, that would be way easier than hunting you down,” Gueira reasoned. “She was already at Burning Rescue. She could’ve had that mob wreck the place and terrorize Galo, but from what we heard from that fire-fighting-idiot they were only at the place because they thought you were there, and they left as soon as they figured out that you weren’t.”

“She could’ve also targeted any of the Burnish Refugee centers,” the other added. “That would’ve gotten your attention _and_ presence for sure, but she hasn’t. And out of everything she has put out, I think she only mentions you being Burnish once. It would be easy to play up that part of you to get the anti-Burnish dicks on her side, but she’s not doing that either.”

“Yeah, Boss… I- Wow, this is a shitty thing to say, but...” Gueira paused, shooting his leader an apologetic look. “It doesn’t seem like she anti-Burnish… just anti-you.” 

“...I know.” Lio said finally, anger falling away to sullen defeat. “I know, I just… worry.”

 _‘You all did launch me into a volcano in order to sacrifice yourself and save me,’_ Lio thinks sorely. 

“We’ll go get some of your stuff from home,” Gueira offered. “And, uh, I guess maybe stop by a store to help clean up some more.”

“It might just be easier to go to the bank and give him the cash for whatever his deposit was,” Meis mused.

“I’ll work on making this place a bit more presentable,” Lio said with a sigh. “I’ll figure out something with Galo when he wakes up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lio, at his own brain, about his own trauma: Stop sending me this shit  
> \---  
> Thanks for all the Kudos and comments! I really enjoy seeing them all! They really make my whole week! =D I've been working on this fic since the near start of the year and I'm excited to see that other people are enjoying it!  
> Have a wonderful rest of your day~!


	4. Guys My Age

Galo dreamed he was in bed with Lio. Not laying next to him, not cuddling or spooning or simply sitting next to each other while they fiddled on their phones like the domestic nonsense Galo often day-dreamed about. No, he was pounding him into the mattress. Galo’s face was buried into his neck, groaning into his sweat slicked hair. His hands slid down his sides to small hips that he promptly grasped as he snapped his own. He could hear Lio’s gasp amongst the small noises that left him with every thrust. 

“Galo-! Galo- Ah, I-! Please!”

“Tell me what you want,” he said huskily into his ear, giving it a tiny bite for good measure. The action got him a shuddering moan that went straight down his spine right to his dick.

He listened to Lio struggle to get out coherent words. Several attempts started with his name and “please”s and “I want”s before a single sobbing word caught his attention.

“Stop...!” Galo stilled.

“What?” He pulled back to see Lio’s face, upset and pained, eyes red, tear streaks burning scars into his cheeks.

“Galo, please stop…”

He awoke with such a horror-filled shout and jolt that he nearly threw himself off the bed. The first thing he saw was Lio, sitting jostled at the foot of his mattress, hand over his heart as if he were stopping it from leaping out of his chest.

“Oh my god, Lio. I’m so sorry!” Galo wasn’t sure if he was apologizing for the dream or for scaring him.

“It’s fine, Galo,” Lio said with a nervous laugh. “You just startled me, that’s all. Are you alright?”

“I think I just had the worst nightmare of my life,” he replied, running his hands through his hair. God, he was drenched in sweat, he’ll have to take another shower. 

“No doubt because of Meis and Gueira,” Lio said cheerlessly. “And… by extension, me.”

Galo watched as the smaller man scooted closer up the mattress to him, feeling his anxiety grow at the action. “What happened? I remember we were sitting in my living room. We...” He hesitated, gauging Lio’s reaction cautiously. “We were… talking…”

He gave the firefighter a sympathetic smile. “I was told that you became physically ill on your living room rug and fell unconscious.”

Galo blinked. “Well, that’s a weird way of saying I barfed my guts out and passed the fuck out.” This earned him a genuinely happy laugh.

“I was trying to be tact!” Lio expressed. “Admittedly though, your version is closer to what Gueira actually said.”

“Are they still here?”

“No, they went out for some supplies a short time ago. They should be back, but not for a while.”

“Supplies?” Galo echoed, confused. “Supplies for what?”

“Ah, yes, well.” Lio cleared his throat. “I’ll let them explain themselves about half of that, but as for the other half,” Lio looked at him then, dark amethyst eyes turned serious. “I first wanted to apologise, Galo. I never meant to overwhelm you. Today may have been Meis and Gueira’s idea, but I gave them my approval. My only concern was over them bullying you, but as it turns out I should’ve been worried about much more than that.”

Galo shifted uncomfortably, but attempted to inject some humor into the conversation anyways. “They did bully me a bit too. Took my lunch money.”

“Oh, poor baby.”

“You know, you really don’t have anything to apologize for, Lio,” Galo began sitting up straighter. “I know I handled last night pretty poorly.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I didn’t explain myself properly, I don’t think.” Then, with a shrug, he added. “I’m just not very good at these sort of things.” 

_“You need to use your words.”_ Gueira had said to him right before the couple left. _“The three of us can just look at each other and KNOW, you know? But he’s a dumbass - he doesn’t KNOW anything!”_ Lio had opened his mouth to object to the insult but the taller man wouldn’t allow it. _“You need to actually talk to him! Using actual words. You can’t just stare at him and expect him to get it!”_

Lio recalled the memory with a bitter pout. He hated it when Gueira was right, since it usually meant that Lio was being too ridiculous and childish for even Gueira to handle - and being ridiculous and childish was one of the man’s favorite pastimes. 

But sitting in front of Galo now, he simply did not know what to say even if he wanted to say anything. He was good with reciting facts and retelling events that had happened to him, but he already did that. He could tell Galo needed more for him but he didn’t know what that was, nevertheless how to give it to him. Right now all he wanted to do was sink into his pillows in his room and forget the world existed for a bit.

Galo, on the other hand, wanted a hug. Or rather, to give a hug. He wanted to sweep Lio up into his arms and squeeze him so tight that he would hear his bones pop. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even touch Lio knowing what he knew now. How awful he had been, to be so inconsiderate before.

So the two sat in awkward silence, neither sure how to proceed.

Until Lio’s phone rang. It was some catchy notes of an 8-bit tune that Galo had set up for him after several months of the default tone. He opened the notification to read a message from Meis. 

_“They’re still here.”_ Lio cursed under his breath before another text popped in. _“Gueira and I have managed to get in from the back, but they’ve set up camp and are basically blocking the entrance. Landlord and the neighbors are pissed, but we’re handling it. We might be here a while.”_ Then, a single _“Sorry.”_ came through. Lio replied back asking that they remain safe before directing his attention back to the other man.

“Is everything okay?” Galo asked, tone worried. 

“I wish I could say that it was, but unfortunately not.” Lio laughed, but it was lacking any actual joy. “Aleka somehow figured out where I live and her ever growing mob is stationed outside of our apartment building. Meis and Gueira think I should stay somewhere else for a while.” When silence came as a reply, Lio was confused. He had expected the man to offer up his place without hesitation before he had even finished his sentence, yet when Lio looked at him he could see nothing but a neutral expression and some nods to indicate he was listening, as if he were waiting for Lio to continue. “...Galo, would be alright if I stayed here for a bit, if it’s not too much trouble?”

The mood about Galo shifted into deep uneasy, and Lio immediately started to backtrack, rising from the mattress.

“You know what? Don’t worry about it. I didn’t mean to impose, so forget I asked-”

“No, no! Wait, Lio, yes, of course you can stay here!” Galo interjected quickly. “As long as you need! Do Meis and Gueira need to stay here too?”

Lio smiled fondly at the offer, thinking it kind that he would include them unprompted, and relaxed back into the bed. “No, they are pretty sure they have themselves handled. It’ll be just me.” The unease returned to Galo’s expression, putting Lio back on edge. “Is… that alright?”

Galo’s eyes suddenly found the sheets in his lap all too interesting. “Yeah, of course that’s more than okay _with me_ , but, like…” Lio felt like a violin string was being tuned within him. He could feel his insides being wound tighter with every pause Galo took. “Are _you_ okay with that? Being here... alone... with me?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Another turn of the peg and Lio was past where his note was meant to be.

“Well-! You know…”

“I _don’t_ know, Galo,” he replied angrily. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was reminded that - if he were to follow advice - _he_ was the one supposed to be doing the talking, not the one demanding answers. He definitely shouldn’t be turning it around like this. Yet another part of him knew exactly to what Galo was referring to and advised him not to press it further. “By all means, enlighten me.”

“Don’t be upset, Lio.” Galo looked back at him with conflicted eyes. “I don’t want to do anything to upset or scare you-”

“ _Scare_ me?” Three rapid turns of the peg had the string so tight that it would surely make a horrid sound when played. “Is that what you think of me now? Someone who gets _scared?_ Do you honestly think of me as weak enough to feel such a thing now?” He was up on his feet now, pacing away from the bed. 

“That’s not what I meant!” Galo too rose up to stand, sheets falling to the floor in the motion. “It’s not weak to feel fear! I know that I’ve made you feel uncomfortable and-”

“ _Uncomfortable?_ ” Lio echoed, insulted. He spun around to face him, changing his route to march up to the man. “You’ve never made me _uncomfortable_ in my life. Is this how you plan on treating me from now on? Like I’m _nothing?_ ”

Galo started to answer, confused, but he couldn’t summon any words fast enough to compete with the quick hands that cranked away at Lio’s threads.

“ _This_ is why I didn’t want to tell you - I can’t _stand_ it how people treat me now that I’m without my fire, now that they _know_ what I was like before.” He jabbed a finger into the taller’s chest, wrinkled tank top doing little to stop the slight pain that came with the action. “ _Nothing_ about me has changed! I am still the same person I was when you met me, the _only_ difference now is that I can’t defend myself through immolation! Do you really think of me so differently without that strength? Do you _actually_ look down on me that much?!”

Galo was horrifically disconcerted at this point. He had thought he had been following Lio’s trail of thought well enough, but now it was like he had turned a corner to find thousands of tracks, overlapping each other going every which way in a sudden frenzy that read of a sourceless panic. The sheer number of it overwhelmed him. 

In short, he had no idea what Lio was talking about. “I would never think less of you for anything, Lio! I think the world of you! It’s just- I know what that guy did to you and-”

“What, you think that I’m scared you’ll over-power me?” Lio spat.

Galos’ eyebrows crinkled together, even more befuddled. “Is that not what you said last night?”

Lio stepped back, fuming. Was that what he said? He was too worked up to remember. “I am more than capable of handling myself,” he seethed. “We’ve already seriously fought before, in case you have forgotten.”

“That was something different,” the other mumbled. Thinking to himself, he added: _‘I was doing the wrong thing there too, the first time.’_

“Was it different because I was on fire?” Lio clipped.

“No! I-! I’m not talking about you being Burnish, I’m talking about what that guy _did_ to you! I’m _trying_ to apologize!”

“Apologise _for what?!_ ” Tighter and tighter the strings were wound. “Why are _you_ apologising for how some other guy - someone who you never knew, might I add! - treated me several years ago _before_ you even knew me?!”

“It’s not just that! I should’ve realized there were other aspects to it- I shouldn’t have just assumed you’d be okay with it even before I knew all of this!”

“What on earth are you talking about?!”

“ _I shouldn’t be touching you-_ ” Galo cut himself off mid-yell, realizing too late how loud they had gotten. “I… I shouldn’t be doing that to you… so casually…” He trailed off before the words “without asking” left his tongue, sitting abandoned and heavy in his throat at the sight of Lio’s expression. It was one of pained realization, but just as quickly as it was drawn it was wiped clean from his face, replaced instead with cold-indifference.

The string inside him snapped, and the instrument within him fell silent. 

“I see,” was all he said before he turned on his heels and left the room. Galo jolted, thinking only twice before chasing after him.

“Lio, wait-” Much like how someone can feel eyes watching them if stared at for long enough, Lio could feel the hand hovering around his shoulder. He stopped mid-stride in the living room, but the weight never came. 

Lio whipped around, glare burning into the hand still frozen in the air between them. “Go ahead. Touch me. I don’t care.”

“I-”

“Do you want to?”

Galo stuttered. He didn’t know how to answer that. Of course he wanted to, he always wanted to touch Lio and comfort Lio and spend everyday with Lio- but was that what he was asking? Would it only make it worse for him to admit that? He would _never_ do anything that Lio didn’t like, but did Lio know that?

“So that’s what you think of me,” came the cold statement. “It’s understandable, the revulsion.”

A horrible dawning took hold of Galo. Lio thought that-

“NO! Nononono! Lio, wait-” But he wouldn’t wait, he was already exiting his apartment. “Please, Lio, just listen, that’s not what I meant at all, I-!” The shorter man tried to pull the door closed behind him, but Galo managed to stop it, grabbing hold of the door and frame desperately. “Please, I don’t think that at all!”

“Let go, Galo.”

“Please, Lio! I love you!” Lio stiffened. “I still love you! Nothing could change that!”

“Don’t say that to me. Not if you don’t mean it.”

“I do mean it!” Galo insisted frightfully. “Since the moment I met you till right now, I’ve never stopped loving you!”

“Then take me,” Lio commanded.

“I- What-”

“Take me,” he repeated. He shoved the door open, yanking it out of Galo’s hands. “Grab me. Kiss me. Fuck me into the floor. It should be easy for you, since you love me right?” Galo made no move to comply, mouth hanging open uselessly. “Do it! Kiss me!”

Galo wouldn’t. As unplanned and nightmarish as this confession was, he knew that this wouldn’t solve anything. Even if it did, by some fucked-up miracle, the moment wasn’t right; neither one of them would be able to look back at this foundly. It was wrong- for both of them.

Lio, however, did not see it that way. “That’s what I thought.”

“Wait, please, just-”

“ _Don’t_ follow me.” He meant it as a demand, spoken harsh and sharply, but it came out hoarse and raspy. It was as if he had simply ran out of air in his lungs. Galo couldn’t even get a good enough look at his face to tell if it was due to anger or resignation, sadness or pain. All Galo knew was that it sounded like Lio was just barely holding it together.

A door slammed in his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “We were trying to make him better,” Meis and Gueira say.  
> “You fucked up a perfectly good Galo is what you did,” says Lio. “Lookit. It’s got anxiety.”


	5. Malpractice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get me wrong, I live for fluffy, perfect first times!  
> But I die a bloody death for realistic first times.

Lio’s hand hovered over the bathroom door knob. He drew back, hesitating, unsure, though he didn’t know why. He wanted this, didn’t he? He should be excited. The kids he saw on teen dramas always seemed to be excited about sex and having it. Even his schoolmates seemed to be that way from the whispers and talk he overheard, so it couldn’t be all made up for TV. So why was he doubting himself now?

His grip on the towel around his waist tightened. He peered over at his uniform, folded neatly on the bathroom counter right where he left it before he stepped into the shower. He felt too exposed like this, but he was about to have sex. With his boyfriend. He was going to lose his clothes anyways, right? He shouldn’t put them back on. That’d be weird. 

He eyed a bathrobe, white and fluffy with the hotel’s insignia on the utterly useless front pocket. Even from where he stood he could tell that it would be oversized on him, and that wouldn’t be attractive. But would coming out in just the towel make him seem too desperate? It was...It was sex, it was normal. People did it all the time, it wasn’t a big deal. He would look childish if he appeared too eager. 

A knock had him jumping out of his thoughts. “Hey, are you okay in there?”

“F-Fine!” Lio answered, just barely preventing his voice from showing off his anxiety. Deep breath in, he opened the door. 

Ellias looked back at him. He had a hand braced against the wall so that he could rest his head and tousled hair on his arm. His soft smile was wide, reaching his blue eyes. Lio always thought he’d be okay drowning in them. 

“Hey, you,” he said sweetly. “You ready?”

Lio huffed. “Naturally.”

“Yeah? Then why are you hiding behind the door?”

“I just thought it was unfair for you to see me so bare while you remain fully dressed,” the boy said pointedly. He was joking, of course, and it brought out an easy laugh from his boyfriend.

“Oh, I see,” he teased back. “And here I was thinking that you perhaps could be nervous.”

“I’m not nervous,” came the quick reply.

“It’s your first time, it’s okay to be nervous, you know.” He lifted his hand off the wall to stretch out some. “It’s a big deal! I went all out for it.”

Lio knew that was true, he did go “all out,” as he would say. He had first broached the topic a week ago, during one of the times they had met up while Lio was supposed to be studying after school. 

“Have you ever done it before?” he had asked him. 

Lio, being the intelligent young man that he was, did not need any clarification on what “it” was and as a result turned bright red and sputtered out nonsense that Ellias accurately took as a “no.”

“Would you like to do it with me?” He coyly asked then. Lio turned an even brighter red in response, which he laughed at. After a lot of light teasing and sentences that Lio struggled to formulate, they had come up with a plan to make such an event work.

They couldn’t very much do something like that at Lio’s parents’ house (Lio absolutely balked at the idea) and Ellias was living in a dormitory situation with roommates. Lio’s schedule was strict, it was already difficult meeting with one another during the few hours he had between when his schooling ended and his next courses were to begin, so they would have to make time. Ellias had forged a note from Lio’s parents requesting that he be excused from half his classes today, and so Lio left right as permitted with neither his school nor his parents any wiser.

The hotel was nice - nothing outrageously fancy, but far from any of the cheaper picks around the area. It almost seemed fitting for a couple visiting England on holiday, for their honeymoon perhaps. It was charming, and Lio did appreciate the indulgence into his more materialistic comforts.

“That’s all fine and good,” Lio said finally. “but I’m not nervous.”

“Sooo, then, you’ll come out from there?” Lio hesitated - again - at first, but eventually heeded the request, opening up the door wide. Ellias whistled lowly at the reveal, as if impressed by the display. 

“Oh, shut it.”

“Right, right, come here,” he said with a laugh, waving Lio to him. He took the few steps needed to fall into his arms with a satisfied hum. The hug was brief, interrupted by Ellias pushing back Lio’s damp hair to plant a small kiss on his forehead. “Your hair is still wet.”

“Would you rather it be dry?”

“Nah, unless you want it that way. I could dry it for you.”

Lio grumbled at that. “I’m not a child.”

“I know you aren’t, Lilo.” 

The hug returned with the pet name, tighter this time. Lio loved it. He didn’t have a word for it then, but in his future a close friend would make mention of him being so “touch starved.” 

“Did you do everything I told you?” The man asked, allowing Lio to pull away from his grasp. “All squeaky clean?”

Lio flushed, eyes darting off to the side. “Yes.”

“Ha, are you embarrassed?”

Lio flushed more. “...No.” 

Ellias laughed again. Lio always made it too easy to tease him. “It’s fine, it’s fine! I know it’s weird, but trust me, the prep-work is a crucial step.”

He led Lio over the bed and guided him to sit down. The sheets had already been pulled down out of the way. The towel still clung to him as he fidgeted, eyeing a line up of supplies on the nightstand.

“Still doin’ okay there?” he asked, sitting down next to him. “You know you can trust me, right? There’s nothing to be worried about.”

“I know, it’s not you. It’s just… What if I-”

“Hey, there’s nothing you can do wrong here, okay? You’re perfect.”

Lio bit his lip and averted his gaze, embarrassed now for a different reason, and Ellias took that opportunity to steal a kiss. It deepened without an issue, and even when Lio felt himself being lowered onto the mattress it was fine. They had done this before, hands tangled in each other’s hair, roaming around bodies, palming at places yet undiscovered over their clothes. And that was the big step - the lack of clothes. As far as they had gone in their whirlwind romance they never ventured towards anything that would require any amount of clothing removed. To see each other naked was a big step forward, Lio knew that much, which is why he didn’t know quite what to do when the only thing covering his person was smoothly removed other than to squeeze his eyes shut tight.

He heard a chuckle above him. “What are you doing?” What _was_ he doing? Was his brain seriously operating under the “if I can’t see you, you can’t see me” principle?

“I… I don’t know,” he admitted, though his eyes remained closed. He felt hands on his own, tugging them to Ellias waist. 

“Here, help me with my shirt. Then we’d be a bit more even.” Lio nodded, but barely did more to “help” other than grasping the end of the fabric blindly and slowly lifting. Ellias did most of the maneuvering while Lio fought to keep his hands from noticeably shaking. “There.”

The younger peeked out. _‘Fit.’_ He thought.

“What was that?” 

Lio’s eyes went wide. “Uh- Nothing! I-!” 

“Did you call me ‘fit’?” he asked with a wry smile, emphasizing a drawn out “aaaww” at the term.

“S-shut up!” Lio jumped a bit at the feeling of fingers dancing around his stomach. He looked down at himself for half a second before shooting his gaze up at the ceiling. Yep, he was completely and unbearably nude. On full display. He trembled with the urge to yank over the blankets to cover himself.

“Can’t believe you have a crush on me, Lilo” Ellias said in jest. “I mean, how embarrassing.  I’m right chuffed about it though.”

Lio glared, propping himself up on his elbows. “That is not what I sound like.”

“That is exactly what you sound like.” He opened up his mouth to argue, but was cut off by another kiss. Lio let his eyes flutter close once more as he fell back. The feeling of Ellias’ back against his hands felt nice. He tried not to think about any particular aspect too hard - he knew that if he hyper-focused on any one thing he’d probably mess something up - but despite the conscious self-order he found himself doing exactly that when his hands reached the waistband of his boyfriend’s pants.

He should be working on getting these off, right? Or would that be a thing Ellias would do himself? Was it too eager? Too demanding? Or if he didn’t do it, would he think that he didn’t want to go forward? And Lio _wanted_ to go forward. At least, he thought he did… He was pretty sure. In any case, he had done some “research” prior to this, but it was all very confusing. Was he supposed to just… lay here? The guys in the videos seemed to be doing that and not much else, he noticed. But they also made a lot of noise. Oh god, Lio was not making any sound whatsoever, was he supposed to? He sort of just figured the moaning would come naturally, but was he actually supposed to put effort into volume and timing? Was that normal or was Lio just doing it wrong? Oh _god,_ was Lio doing sex _wrong?_

His breath caught in his throat. Featherlight touches on his- Lio looked down for a flash to confirm what he was feeling. Oh. A heavy kiss was left on his neck, before turning to light sucking and biting. 

_‘This isn’t so bad,’_ he thought. _‘It’s nice. It feels nice.’_

As if on cue, Ellias spoke again. “Feeling a little better?” Another kiss against his neck, slowly working his way down to his collarbone. “A little more relaxed?”

Lio tensed up, ready to argue or say something haughty in response, but just as the fight came it left and his muscles unclenched. It was pointless to act that way out of pride, Ellias could always read him so easily. 

“Yeah, I… I think so?” 

“Yeah?” he replied with a chuckle. He planted one slow kiss against Lio’s jaw before reaching up and over to the nightstand. Lio watched as he brought back a tall bottle into his view. “Do you know what this is?”

“Lube.” Lio responded dumbly, reading it straight from the label.

“Right, but do you know what it’s for?” Lio bit his lip. “God, you’re so adorable.” 

Before he could protest Ellias had moved to sit on the edge of the bed, working his own jeans off. Lio felt a little bad about it before a noticeable lift in his boyfriend’s boxers shot something cold through his heart. He averted his gaze and the feeling quickly went away. He didn’t know what that feeling was and so he chose to just ignore it.

“This is going to make everything easier,” Ellias told him, popping the cap off and drizzling a small amount into his palm. “If you’re using lotion to jack off I’d recommend switching to this.” 

Lio, indignant over the crude comment, once more started to respond but was, once more, cut off. This time, however, it was by his own gasping as Ellias strongly stroked him. 

“And it’s water-based,” the man added with an amused grin. “Good for the environment. And it won’t break the condom.”

Lio let out a shuddering breath, eyes blow wide. “Why- Why do we need one? I’m not- ah, I’m not a girl. I’m not getting pregnant.” 

“No, but it’ll help with the clean-up and it’s coated in lube too.” He worked a thumb over the head, and Lio bit his tongue to stop the noise that threatened to leave him “It’s your first time, I want to be extra careful.” 

Lio huffed, half in annoyance and half in pleasure. He was pretty sure Ellias was making some of this stuff up - he learned of no such thing in his Health courses nor from the videos he watched. This thought was only furthered when Lio’s leg was suddenly hiked up on the other’s shoulder. 

“Are you ready?” Ellias asked, pouring more lube into his hand. Lio watched the scene in confusion.

“Are you planning on riding me in your boxers?” 

“ _Ha_! No, no, I’m going to stretch you first.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m going to stick my fingers in your ass and stretch you out.” As he said it, Ellias leaned in and dragged his hand over the hole in question. Lio squeaked. “Did you think I was just going to ram my dick into you?”

“No,” he said. _‘Yes,’_ he thought. He was beginning to think the video research he did was a huge waste of stressful time.

“It would hurt like hell if I did that!” Ellias laughed.

Lio paled. Hurt? No one said anything about it hurting.

“Don’t worry,” Ellias said automatically. “Everything’s going to be fine. We’re doing all of this so that doesn’t happen.”

“So it won’t hurt?”

“It shouldn’t.”

“But it might?”

Ellias gave him a sympathetic smile and a soft squeeze to his leg. “If it does at any point, you let me know, okay? You trust me, right?”

Lio nodded, though he wasn’t entirely sure if he was truly reassured. “Of course, I- I trust you.”

He shot him another smile, wide and sweet. “I love you, Lio.”

“I love you t-” the end of his sentence jammed itself into his throat as a finger slid into him. Oh, that felt _weird._ After getting his wits back about him, the boy looked back down at the other. He seemed to be concentrating, so Lio snagged a pillow for his head and fell down to leave him to his task. It didn’t seem like there was much else to do but lay there and try not to shake too much (in anticipation? In stress?). 

“You doin’ alright?” Ellias asked him after a while. 

“ _Mm-hmm,_ ” was all Lio could manage. He had worked in two fingers and while it still didn’t cause him any pain, there was a building tension in his chest that he couldn’t explain. 

Ellias nodded, but his gaze was apprehensive. Lio could feel the digits go from scissoring to working inside of him deeper, pressing hard along his walls as they were dragged out. The process was repeated a few times, and with each thrust in Lio felt more and more uncertain about the whole thing. This was just his fingers; actual sex would be like this but _larger,_ right? He wasn’t sure that he liked it…

Then, Lio’s head snapped back and Ellias made a small sound of surprise. 

“Oh, did I find it?” A bit more uncomfortable prodding before Lio again felt a surge of warmth buzz within him. “Yeah, looks like it.”

Lio had begun to feel like his brain had gone fuzzy. “Wha- what… What is...?”

“That’s your prostate, love. Feels good, doesn’t it?” Another well-aimed thrust had Lio letting out an embarrassing whine. He could hear Ellias suck in a sharp breath. “God, that’s hot. I wonder if I can make you cum just from this?”

 _Please don’t_. Lio wanted to say. _I made it this far. I can’t leave without going all the way._ What he did instead was groan out the other man’s name. The action caused the man to still, before cursing under his breath, the fingers leaving him and his leg was dropped.

“Ellias?” Lio breathed.

“Yeah, hold on,” he replied. His voice had taken on a husky quality as he worked his boxers off. “Just a bit longer, okay? Put that pillow under your hips.”

Lio nodded and did as instructed before folding his arms over his eyes. He tried to steady his breathing, but both the previous stimulation and the sight of Ellias’ dick had his lungs working shallowly. It was bigger than his fingers for sure; would it even fit in him? The fingers were uncomfortable, does this mean the real thing will hurt? What he just felt was good, but would it be worth it? Did he actually want to do this? 

His wrists were yanked back, pinned beside his head as Ellias smashed their lips together. As he ground down against him, hip rolling with his. The sensation had Lio thinking that _yes, he did want to._ Three fingers entered him and found his prostate with ease. Lio heard a breathy sigh leave him as his head got even more cloudy. Eventually, through the fog, Lio became aware that no one was touching him anymore. Ellias had grabbed a wrapper from the nightstand and had pulled away to get it open. Lio watched, for once being unable to look away, as he worked the condom on himself. The clouds in his head rumbled and the weight settled on his chest, making every breath he took slightly more difficult from the last. 

This was it. Lio swallowed thickly. He was nervous because he was excited, he reasoned. He wanted this. 

Ellias was over him now. He must have asked him if he was ready because Lio’s head nodded as if he had heard him. His arms were still by his ears where they had been pinned. Lio didn’t know what else to do with them, so they stayed there, gripping the sheets uselessly. It was from the anticipation. He wasn’t scared. 

He jumped when it pressed against him. Ellias took a light, but steady hold of his hip with one hand, guiding himself with the other. “Just breathe for me, okay? Everything’s going to be fine, relax.” 

Lio nodded, and the second time he did not jump, even if he wanted to (which he did not). At first, he felt nothing. There was a strange awareness that Ellias was slowly pressing into him, but no sensation followed until, suddenly, he felt _everything_. It didn’t hurt, but he felt filled in a way he never had before and his mind struggled to comprehend it. The effort to process what was happening to him brought upon Lio an unfortunate clarity.

A _cock_ was _worming_ it’s way inside him. He was nearly impaled and about to be _used_. Of all the things he was told or had heard about sex and what he was suppose to feel he did not think _revulsion_ was one of them. His chest heaved. He felt like he was choking and drowning all at the same time and all he could do was ball his fists into the sheets so hard that his knuckles cracked. This event was supposed to be something “amazing” and the only thing Lio could think about was the fear he was feeling and how much he was _not_ _ready for this._ A few more moments of pushing had him feeling the slow burn of his insides being pulled and stretched. 

He must have made some sort of sound, because Ellias attention was suddenly on him. “Hey, hey, shh. It’s okay. Relax, okay? Does it hurt?”

Lio’s words came out in gasps, too loud for his own ears. “I-! Ah, no, it- It doesn’t! I-!”

“Tell me what’s wrong.” he murmured to him, brushing dampness off his cheek. Was he crying? He didn’t even notice. How pathetic.

“Nothing! Nothing is wrong, I- I don’t know why-” Ellias shushed him again, both thumbs rubbing gentle circles into his face as he cradled his head. 

“It’s okay, you’re just having a panic attack or something.”

“I’m sorry-!”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not that unusual, this sort of thing can be kinda overwhelming.” One hand moved down to his chest, still pitching up and down drastically. “I need you to breathe, okay? Deeply.”

He tried, but upon the first deep inhale he felt Ellias, still hard and speared inside him, and Lio wanted to scream. He pulled his body up in an unconscious effort to get away, but Ellias was faster and his grip locked onto his waist to hold him in place. 

“I’m gonna need you not to move so much.” He sounded out of breath. “It’s taking a lot of effort to remain still inside of you right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Lio whispered. His voice broke a bit, but he was trying his hardest not to break down further.

The man above him shook his head. “It’s okay, just… Look at me, okay?” Lio did as he was told, and stared up into ocean blue eyes. Lio did always think he’d be okay drowning in them. “Breathe with me.” 

The boy tried his best to follow along, but he struggled with his own breathing like a fawn did with its first steps. Eventually the grip on his waist was lifted, and Ellias settled back down to brace himself on one arm near Lio’s shoulder. He loomed over him even more now and he couldn’t help but feel even more suffocated. 

With his other hand, he took Lio’s and draped it across his chest before taking the other and pressing it against his own above him. Lio could feel his own heartbeat, fluttering like a bird in a cage, in comparison to Ellias’, strong and steady. 

“Breath with me,” he instructed again. “You trust me, don’t you? And love me? You know that I would never hurt you.”

“I- I know,” the smaller spoke, feeling himself unwind a bit more and more. 

“Yeah?” Ellias gave him a playful smile. “Did you know how much I love you? ‘Cause it’s a lot.” Lio responded with a strained laugh. “Really! It’s true. I think you’re just the best. You’re so smart and talented and I _love_ ” - he released Lio’s hand to lightly pinch his nose - “that little crinkle you get right here when you’re pouting. It’s the cutest thing.”

“Puppies are cute,” Lio countered. “I am-”

“-Also cute.” Ellias interrupted. “Possibly even cuter than puppies.”

“No…”

“Yes!” Then, more softly, he asked, “Are you okay?”

Lio took note of himself. His breathing had slowed considerably and he no longer felt like he was lost at sea. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry. I ruined everything by freaking out-”

“You didn’t ruin anything.” To prove his point, he gave a quick, shallow thrust against him. Lio yelped. “Does it hurt?”

Lio shook his head, only lying a little. “How are you still-”

“You feel amazing.”

Lio blushed. “R-really?”

“Of course. In fact, it’s kinda killing me here, not moving and all.”

“O-oh.” Lio hesitated. “I mean… we can still… you can…”

“Yeah?” It was a question, but he didn’t wait for an answer. Steadily moving in and out of him, Lio supposed that was fair. He did wait for this long and talked Lio down after he freaked out. To stop now would just make it worse, Lio thought, even if it was a bit unpleasant. Though he could hardly say that he regretted the decision either, when the heat started to build up in him too.

After he had started making soft sounds, little gasps and moans, Ellias shifted his angle till he had Lio keening out his name. Though he was left a lot more unsatiated in the end than movies lead him to believe he would be, in the afterglow of it all, wrapped up in his boyfriend's arms peacefully, Lio had absolutely forgotten what he was even worried about in the first place. 

After that, sex had become a regular occurance in their relationship. Ellias would often write up notes to get Lio out of all matters of things so that they could sneak off together. It felt dangerous, in a way, and thrilling. Lio found the physical side of their relationship more enjoyable with each excursion, to the point where he looked back at his first time and his nervousness almost foundly, or perhaps amusement - for lack of better word. 

Even now, as he laid sprawled out on the hard concrete of Galo’s apartment building’s rooftop, he couldn’t point to any one thing and tell himself that it was fucked up. No, his stupid mind still conjured up those events through a rosy filter. Though, once or twice he did have bitter thoughts about it. Most of those occasions occurred right after the first time he had forced him; fucked him without mercy. 

As a boy, Lio had thought that Ellias wanted him so bad that he stayed turned on even through all of Lio’s hysterics, but as a young man he wondered on such occasions if he was actually getting off on it instead. Maybe even then he was manipulating him and the ability to calm him down - to weld and command him so easily - was stroking more than his ego.

Lio blew out his cigarette smoke at the sky. He wished that it was closer to sunset so that the smoke could look like fire against the brilliant orange and pink hues. 

In any case, he would never know the truth. The bastard was dead and for all Lio knew either the occurrence was completely normal or he could’ve swallowed a fistful of Viagra while he was in the shower.

He took another drag. He hated the taste, but it helped fill that void in him. Not a lot, but it helped. If he wanted, he could switch to vaping and get a mouth full of “blueberry orgy” as opposed to “dry disappointment,” but it wouldn’t be the same. He wasn’t in it for the nicotine, he was in it for the burn.

Lio knew Galo wouldn’t like it though, but Galo didn’t need to know. He felt guilty about hiding it, but the man _really_ didn’t need to know everything about him and the latest events were a clear example of that. 

Lio had liked the image of himself he had crafted over the years. The one of a strong leader of an intimidating gang, burning down evil for the sake of justice. As shitty as the situation was, Lio loved the person that he had become, and he loved that it was the only person that the people he cared about knew him as. 

Meis and Gueira of course _knew_ about the things that had happened before, but they had bore witness to the “new” Lio so many times before the whole truth had been known, so by that point there was nothing his past could do to shake the image of “Boss” from their heads. Galo, on the other hand… well, Galo’s opinion clearly changed.

Another exhale of smoke. He couldn’t blame him, of course. There was a severe difference from the Mad Burnish Lio and the Lio that cowered under the fist of his own making, or the Lio who lived in a gilded cage. Even the Lio he was now was different. Or, at least, he felt different. Without his flames or, hell, even without someone telling him what to do, Lio did not know how to be and has yet to have enough time to even think about figuring it out.

Lio was lost. He wanted to maintain his independence, but he hadn’t the slightest idea on how to do that. And now Galo found him disgusting…

He also couldn’t blame him for that. Lio was used, second-hand. Damaged goods, as they say. He was well aware - Ellias had told him plenty of times.

 _“What was your plan here, huh?”_ he had demanded of him after Lio had managed to swipe Ellias’ cell to phone the police. He had hid in the ground floor bathroom, he couldn’t even remember what caused him to fly into a rage, but he did and was actively trying to kick down the door as Lio called. That was the incident where he broke the lock clean off after successfully forcing the door open to find Lio huddled in the bathtub there, already having given all the information needed. 

The phone ended up dropped and kicked away in the struggle, hitting the tub’s metal stopper before Ellias noticed it and snatched it away, but he was pretty sure the dispatcher could hear him pleading in fear before the call ended, thinking he was going to get his head smashed into porcelain tiles. Lio wondered if he would have, had the woman not called them right back. 

Ellias had put on a different demeanor to explain how his poor boyfriend was ill and got confused often, all the while having Lio’s nose and mouth in an iron grip, his back forced up against Ellias’ front in a mockery of a lover’s embrace. His feet dangled uselessly as the bigger man held him up with that single hand to his face; Lio had no choice but to cling to his arm in fear of his neck snapping off his shoulders, waiting pitifully for the opportunity to breath again. 

Ellias had apologized for the misunderstanding, but despite Lio not being able to make a single sound to defend himself, Ellias was told that the police were on their way for a welfare check. 

To Lio, it had felt like they took forever to show up, all the while he was being told variants of _“If you so much as say anything you know you shouldn’t I’ll be cutting you open and fucking you through your stomach from now on.”_ All he could do was nod stiffly and shakily swear that he wouldn’t. 

After the officers refused to listen to him alone, away from his boyfriend, instead choosing to lecture him on misusing the lines right there in the entryway after asking him only once if he was in any danger ( _“No,”_ he was forced to reply, hands squeezing into his shoulders painfully as Ellias stood behind him, flashing the officers an apologetic smile). No sooner had the policemen closed the door then he was grabbed by the arm and thrown into the living room so hard that Lio was surprised his shoulder didn’t pop out of its socket. He had managed to catch himself from falling completely, skidding to a halt on the hardwood and launching himself at the nearest window. He had yanked back the curtains and pounded on the glass, shouting for help. 

He swore he saw one of the officers look up at him before he was pulled away by his hair and violently punished for his efforts. 

_“What was the plan, Lio?”_ Ellias had repeated after the whole affair, pacing around the couch as the young man shook in his seat. _“You were gonna have me arrested, then what? Where the fuck were you planning to go?”_ He loomed over the back of the couch, Lio could feel his breath on his neck, but he didn’t dare turn to look at him. He responded with a yelp when the furniture was tilted and slammed back down. _“Answer me, goddamnit!”_

 _“I don’t know…”_ he said finally, voice choked and clogged as he nursed a bloody nose with a fistful of tissues. Ellias had provided those to him, at least. 

_“You think someone else is going to take you in? You think someone else is going to want to do that? You don’t know how to do_ **_anything!_ ** _”_

_“I know…”_

_“You think anyone is going to want you? After all that you’ve done?”_

Lio didn’t reply. He knew what was coming and he focused on trying to steel himself - he hated it the most when Ellias would degrade him. 

_“I mean, do you honestly think someone is going to want someone like you? Someone so pathetic? So stupid? So_ **_easy?_ ** _Christ, you don’t even fight me for it!”_

Lio had given up on fighting back relatively quickly. It was a pointless endeavor that only led to the event being more drawn out and hurtful than it needed to be. The one arm he had that wasn’t screaming in pain gave a shrug. 

_“You think that’s a desirable trait? To spread your legs for anyone like you do?”_

_‘It wasn’t for anyone,’_ Lio had thought sourly then. It was just for Ellias, because he was too tired, too beat down to fight against it anymore. Because Lio thought maybe if he cooperated that he’d be nicer to him, like he used to be. Because he still loved him, the man he used to know. At times like that he focused hard on remembering that person, desperate for them to come back.

He would concentrate on the memories as he was berated. The ones like the first time he called him “Lilo” by mistake after tripping over his words on a date and the pet name stuck. 

As Ellias listed all the ways he was defiled, he remembered how the man had surprised him on his birthday back home with a shower of gifts and time. Lio almost cried then, he couldn’t remember a single instance where he didn’t spend the event alone with nothing but an utilitarian gift from his parents, who always told him that they had more important things to do. 

As Ellias described to them how disappointed his parents would be in how he was being used, he remembered how his boyfriend had comforted him on the plane as he left everything behind, how he listened with understanding patience and gentle eyes as Lio told him he didn’t even know why he was upset when he never felt welcome there anyway. 

As Ellias towered above him and went into excruciating detail on why exactly he was _too beyond repair for anyone to want_ , he remembered the road trip across Michigan Ellias had taken them on, and how blown away he was at all the nature that existed around him, how they saw waterfalls and lighthouses and shipwrecks and floats of flowers.

Another drag. There was nothing reminiscing could do to change anything and Lio couldn’t explain it away; he had willingly stayed in a relationship with someone who beat and raped him. He had allowed himself to be hit and forcible fucked more times than he could count. Who would want to be in a relationship with someone like that? Lio had too much baggage and dirt under his skin to be anyone’s first choice. He was a fool to expect anything different, and it was cruel of Lio to even think of leading Galo on by concealing the truth about himself.

But, just like before, he didn’t have anywhere else to go. So he stayed there, spread out on Galo’s roof, creating clouds to remind him of a time he didn’t need cigarettes to create smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Galo: Isn’t this great, Lio? Now that the war is over and things are peaceful, we can finally have the emotionally rewarding relationship that we both have been craving for so long!
> 
> Lio: *confused screaming*
> 
> As you can see, I’ve returned to my ancestral home (misery).


	6. Drama Alert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, I so very hate all the underlines. I wish I had the time to figure out font changes or something as I do appreciate subtle visual cues in writing, but...  
> Maybe I'll go back and change the format if it gets too annoying. Shouldn't be too much more, in any case.

“And you haven’t seen him since?” Aina asked. 

“No,” Galo replied somberly, spinning his straw around in his soda just to give his hands something to do.

“And you didn’t go after him.” It wasn’t a question, rather an annoyed statement of facts.

“He told me not to!” he protested. “How would that have looked? Doing something even after he explicitly told me not to- after all he’s been through? I’m trying my best to _not_ be like that asshole.”

“Sounds like you trying was what pissed him off so much.” Aina paused to take a tiny bite of her pizza. Galo frowned down at his own, mostly left untouched. He had given Aina the rundown. He left out a lot of details, but he still felt pretty guilty about telling her anything. He just _had_ to talk to her. “The guy sounds like a real monster. You shouldn’t have had to try at all - and Lio liked you just fine before, you changing how you act around him probably stressed him out.”

“I know,” Galo admitted with a sigh. He looked out at the people walking by their patio seating without really seeing them, swimming through his thoughts. “It’s just… I couldn’t help it- I _still_ can’t help it. Everything I do now feels wrong! If I try to call or text him I feel like I’m being obsessive. When he comes back and I come on too strongly it might freak him out but _apparently_ if I keep my distance he thinks I’m, like, _disgusted_ by him!” He buried his head in his hands, groaning. “I don’t know what to _do_ , Aina!”

Aina grimaced at the display. It pained her to see her friend struggling like this. “What have you said to him, when you called or texted? Did he even respond?”

“No,” Galo answered miserably. 

“Are we sure he’s… you know, okay?”

“Yeah, Meis and Guiera know where he's at; I guess they actually found him pretty quickly. They were really panicked when they came back to my place but they haven’t tried to kill me or anything, so I’m pretty sure he’s fine and they’re just keeping me in the dark.” Galo looked up at his friend. “Did I tell you they burned a hole in my apartment?”

“I thought you said they _didn’t_ try to kill you.”

“They didn’t, this was before Lio disappeared, while I was passed out. I didn’t even notice while Lio and I were fighting and was too upset afterwards to realize it then either. It was only, like, an hour later that I took a look around and was like ‘what the hell happened here?’”

Aina stared at him incredulously. “How did they-?” She shook her head quickly. “Nevermind, we can circle back to that later. Do you know if he’s even seen your messages?”

“No, he turned that feature off ages ago...”

“Okay, so for all we know he hasn’t and the last time you two spoke was a few days ago and you said you loved him?”

Galo flushed in shame, nodding.

Aina sighed. “Well, I mean, that’s not an awful note to end on, but it sounds like it was hardly the time.”

“I know, but I didn’t know what else to say!”

“Galo, do you-” Aina hesitated. “Are you sure- and I’m not saying that I don’t think that you do! Of course, but… Are you _sure_ that you… You know, _love_ him? I mean, I know you guys have spent a lot of time together since The Blaze, but you hardly know each other-”

“We do know each other,” Galo defended. “We communicate through our burning souls!”

The woman arched an eyebrow, both at the statement and at the oversized bite her companion took of his pizza. “Yeah? How’s that working out for you?”

His shoulders slumped. “Well, it _was_ working out good…”

“Then stay as you were before. Don’t change how you act just ‘cause you know this about him now.” Before taking another bite out of her food, she added, “He probably thought your confession was disingenuous because of that, you know.”

“But I can’t _help it_ ,” Galo repeated. He was frustrated, though not at Aina. He was angry at himself (the task was so _easy,_ why couldn’t he have just _done_ it?) and he hoped she could pick that up from his tone; he didn’t know if he could find the words to explain that to her right now. “I don’t want to hurt him again.”

“Galo, you haven’t hurt him-”

“Yes, I did.” The man’s frown deepened, staring hard at the condensation forming around his glass. “We all did. We all hurt the Burnish. We all were working for Kray’s plans and so many people got hurt or killed for it. Because I trusted him, and I looked up to him. I thought that he-”

“Galo,” Aina interrupted gently, placing her hand over his. “We were all fooled by Kray, that’s not your fault- that’s not anyone’s fault. He was a cruel person who used everyone around him. It’s not your fault that he was too good at being… Well, _evil._ ” 

Galo was quiet for a moment, then, “I guess so.”

“You guess?” Aina echoed, punching him lightly in the shoulder. “Come on. The Galo I know doesn’t guess anything. He’s _one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the time!_ ”

Galo laughed despite himself at her awful impression. Other people sitting around them had started to glance over at the noise. 

Aina giggled too before continuing on. “I know it must be hard for you, all of this, and I know how much Kray’s betrayal hurt you. You shouldn’t put your issues and feelings on hold.”

“I know, it’s just…” Galo started with a sad smile. “Lio is going through something _now_ and I wanna be there for him so…”

“Now? It sounds to me that Lio’s been going through this for a while.” She took a sip of her water, before she made a little excited noise, as if she just had an epiphany. “You wanna end up like Lio? ‘Cause that’s exactly the tactic he was employing and it’s not working out so hot for him now.” 

Galo offered no reply but a confused squint.

“He hasn’t been dealing with his issues! He’s always been focused on _more important things-_ ”

“Your Lio impression is worse than your Galo impression.”

“-And now that he is faced with what has happened to him, he doesn’t know how to deal, because he never allowed himself to figure it out!” She pointed a finger at Galo’s nose, staring him down with a serious expression. “So don’t just push your hurt to the side for another day. Deal with you shit now, unless you want to end up doing to Lio what he’s doing to you now.”

“Yeah, but…” Galo looked into the pizza place. He could see the TV covering Lio’s story again. _Still._

When he had found out that Lio had tried to reach out to that Aleka girl he was too exhausted to even be upset ( _‘I mean, come on, Lio. You_ said _you would talk to me first!’_ ). Remi and Lucia, who have been monitoring the story closely (so closely that it almost bothered Galo, though he really couldn’t place why), had told him that some tech-savy asshole on Aleka’s side had traced his IP address to the building via his profile before he deleted it and that’s how they found out where he lived. 

“I don’t think any of _my_ issues are going to be broadcasted on drama-whoring YouTube channels.”

As it turns out, Galo was wrong. 

“Aleka may not be after anyone but me, but it appears her followers aren’t beholden to such a low bar of human decency.” Lio sat on the couch, legs crossed, foot bouncing angrily as he glared at the TV in front of him. Some bullshit conspiracy theory had gained enough traction to make it to the top of several trending pages. It detailed the absolute ludacris idea that Lio had somehow tricked and corrupted Galo into betraying Kray, and that everything was a large set up to have the former governor framed and they dredged up every single thing Galo had ever done in his life as “proof.” If anyone used even the slightest amount of thought they would be able to see easily and clearly that the “theory” made no sense at all, but it would seem that most everyone was dedicating all their brain power to calling Lio a manipulative monster and Galo an idiot of massive proportions. “It’s only a matter of time before they make something up about you too.”

 _“We’re not all that worried about us, Boss,”_ came Guiera’s reply from the phone. Lio had been bouncing around from home to home of any Burnish refugee that had even the tiniest room to spare, and his current host was out at the moment, so having the conversation on speaker wasn’t bothering anyone. 

“Well, I am,” Lio replied bitterly. “I don’t think this ‘waiting til this blows over’ tactic is going to get us very far.” Then, with an exhausted sigh he added “I don’t even know what she wants! If she would just tell me I’d probably give it to her!”

 _“She_ wants _you to admit to killing the guy so she can haul you off to jail without a single spec of evidence,”_ Meis said gruffly.

“Did she actually say that, though? Maybe all she wants is an apology or something.”

“ _Boss, do not apologise to her,”_ Meis scolded. _“That’s an admission of guilt in itself, first of all, and second of all you have nothing to apologise for.”_

“Yes, yes, everyone keeps saying that but-”

_“Boss. Do not.”_

_“Yeah, fuck that guy,”_ Guiera added in. _“And fuck that broad too!”_

_“Have you been getting enough sleep? Something to eat?”_

Lio groaned loudly at Meis’ questions. “You sound like Galo with the overbearing routine. Remind me, who exactly parented whom out in the desert again?”

_“By the way, he’s been texting and calling you-”_

“Interesting how you didn’t answer my question.”

_“-Do you want to know what he’s been sayin?”_

Lio began to answer immediately, but stopped himself short. He made himself think it over, fiddling with the burner phone in his grasp. “...No. I’m okay.”

_“Are you sure?”_

Lio scowled, annoyed. “I gave my answer, didn’t I? What’s that supposed to mean?”

A sigh came out of the receiver. _“Okay, Boss. Get some rest.”_

Meis could hear the beginning of an argument as he ended the call.

“Boss has gotten real snippy with us lately,” Gueira observed, stretching out his arms as he made his way to a window to peek out to the streets below. “Yep, still there.”

“He’s sleep deprived.”

“For years we were all in a constant state of exhaustion, and he’s never been such a dick before.”

“We had the Flames to help keep us going,” Meis reasoned, though he wasn’t sure if he really believed it. He made his way to the window to take a look for himself. It seemed like the crowd was growing. 

“Didn’t think he’d leave Hasselhoff high and dry though,” Gueira mumbled. “I would say that we should at least tell him that we have his phone, but…”

Meis nodded. “The fewer things anyone knows about Boss the better.”

\---

He was running. So fast and for so long that his legs should be burning by now, but they weren’t. His whole body burned, but not in a way he had ever felt like before. It wasn’t the burn of deep ache or strain, but like a constant bolt of lighting, striking every aspect of his soul, surging him forward. Like an out of control wind-up toy, he flew forward. 

Lio was sure he looked suspicious or at the very least crazy, but he wasn’t sure if anyone was even around to witness him. He wasn’t aware of anyone or anything as he ran, just the roar of fire that he was so sure was still right behind him.

He ducked into a narrow alley, crashing against a wall before allowing his body to fall besides a dumpster, out of view from the world. Even with a wall to his back, he can still hear the flames eating away at everything in their path directly behind his skull.

His chest heaved, sweat flooded his skin, and he shook horribly. His body gave him all the signs of being pushed too far and yet he felt as if he hadn’t been pushed nearly enough. He lifted his hands to his face and turned them every which way. He yanked up his sleeves and did the same to his arms. Every scrape and cut, every bruise and tear had disappeared. He grabbed his sides and pressed. Every since Ellias threw him against the kitchen counter his left side ribs ached and sometimes crackled under his skin. They felt fine now.

He adjusted the way he sat. The man had been particularly brutal with him the night before and yet no matter how he positioned himself on the hard asphalt, nothing about him screamed in pain. 

He pulled up his pant legs. Even the ankle Lio was _sure_ he broke just a short while ago- he had held Lio down and stomped on it till it shattered, because Lio had managed to weasel out of his grip and kick him off too many times, because he was angry, because he told Aleka, but now he’s dead and-

Lio’s stomach heaved and he threw himself to the side as he was sick. It kept flashing in his mind; the smell of burning flesh, the sight of his face _melting-_

He retched again. He killed him. He really killed him. How could Lio _do_ such a thing? To someone he cared about so dearly? The man paid out of his own pocket and heart to pluck Lio out of misery and into a better life, he was _clearly_ going through a hard time right now and instead of being there for him, Lio _burns him alive?_

“How did I even…?”

As if to answer, flames burst from his hands. He shouts, panicked, scraping his palms against the ground in an attempt to smother them, but it was no use. He scrambled to a puddle, formed under a gutter due to the light rain and dunked his hands in. 

His head _howled_. 

His hands flew instead to his ears, doubling over in pain. It was too _loud._ Too strong and piercing. There were no words, only meanings flashed at him; that of liquid and death and pain and burn and life and health and stars and suns and fire and fury and strength and tears and-

“Stop! _Please!_ ” He had cried it out in desperation, and to his horror the flames lapping painlessly at his face snuffed themself out immediately as commanded. There was a quiet in his head, but it didn’t last long at all. Rising slowly from the depths came meanings of soothing and remorse and confusion, followed by sparks of fire and desire and _burn_.

He shook his head. “I- I don’t want this,” he spoke softly. He knew what it meant to be Burnish, to explode in flames and then snatched off the street to disappear forever. Even before Lio could see the injustice of it all, of innocent people being grouped together with hapless criminals. There was a scanner at the airport for them that he passed through when he flew here. He’d never be able to get back now. “Please, I don’t want this!”

The sounds in his head buzzed like bees, but they weren’t angry. He _did_ want this, they expressed to him. Doesn’t he remember? How much he had wished for power? How good it felt to receive it? They sang into his ears, rejoicing. Shouldn’t he be pleased? They heard his cries for help and saved him. Isn’t he happy?

But Lio was not happy. He rocked himself back and forth as he buried his stinging eyes in his hands. He had felt happy at the time, he’d admit. He had felt the most complete he ever had in all his life and the incredible power of the moment is something he could still feel coursing through his veins, but that was when he wasn’t thinking. Now that he was thinking and able to breathe again he could not be more miserable. 

“What am I going to do now…” What could he do? He only had the clothes on his body. He had no money and no home now and- was he even wearing shoes? Lio looked up to see his naked feet, filthy and wet. He curled his toes experimentally. They also moved just fine, pain-free other than the cold that sank into them.

Where was he supposed to get shoes without any money? Could he go to some sort of shelter? Lio shook his head. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. As soon as Ellias’ sister would find out, as soon as they would find Ellias’ body and not his own, as soon as they would tell her it was Burnish fire that swallowed the house whole, she would order a man hunt out for him for sure. Even without her insistence, he was positive the anti-Burnish police effort would want his head. 

He had seen it on the news countless times, how hated the Burnish were, how dangerous they were portrayed, criminal or not. Their neighbor across the way, who was only a sweet old lady that would bring over pies to them like a living stereotype of a fairy tale grandmother, was snatched in the night by the anti-Burnish police. After a few weeks of not hearing from her, they found out from another neighbor that she was hiding her youngest grandson, a child no older than twelve, who happened to be Burnish. For the crime of existing, every one under their roof was arrested. The grandmother, the boy, and his older brother - all gone like they never existed at all.

Lio would like to say the Burnish were treated like mad dogs that needed to be put down, but even Old Yeller was treated with more decency. Old Yeller didn’t have Saturday morning cartoons made about how evil he was like the Burnish did.

He needed help. He was lost and scared and confused and he didn’t know what to do, so he did what any nineteen year-old kid would do in that situation: He called his parents.

The first time that he did was nearly half a year ago beforehand. He had swiped Ellias phone before he left for his job and replaced it in his backpack when he returned. He had called both his mother and father’s cell phone. His boyfriend had been livid to discover the long distance charges a month later, but Lio had lied smoothly about it. _“Are you sure someone from England didn’t call you? The abroad program or something? How would I have done it?”_

His father’s call eventually went to voicemail, but his mother picked up and was immediately put off as soon as he spoke. He didn’t get even a half-sentence out before his mother interrupted him to answer “It’s Lio,” to his father’s query of who was calling her. 

“What do you want,” he father said as soon as his mother handed the phone to him.

“I know you’re angry, but _please_ , I need help.” 

“You’re not getting a single pound from us.”

“I’m not asking for money,” Lio tried to reason. “Please, I made a mistake, I-!”

“Yes, that does sound about right,” he told him. “Take some responsibility. Do not call here again.”

The line went dead. He tried once more to call, but he was informed that the numbers were not able to be reached and he knew that he had been blocked.

The phone box, worn and disgusting looking, stood like a lighthouse outside the alley. Once inside, he followed the directions on a faded sticker on how to place a collect call, spoke his name when instructed, and waited. He had chosen his mother’s number, as she was the one to pick up last time, but knowing that she would be greeted with the monotone message of who was calling with the shaky recording of his name, he was shocked when she still picked up.

Silence. So much so that Lio wondered if something was wrong with the phone. “Hello?”

“I thought we told you to never call back again,” came his mother’s voice.

“Mum!” Lio couldn’t help the relief that flooded through him. “Mum, please, I-”

“Did we or did we not tell you to never call back?” 

The relief hardened and sank down into his stomach. “...You did,” he answered quietly.

“Then, why are you calling?” came his father’s voice, equally as cold.

“I...I’m scared,” he answered honestly, voice quaking. “Please, I’m scared and I don’t- don’t know what to do. I want to come back. I need- I need help. Please.”

He was prepared for the moments of painful silence that came after, which did indeed come. He was also prepared for the demands that he would need to meet in order to come back. He thought that his parents would offer him rescue in return for absolute obedience, with the promise of marriage to whatever wealthy young lady they would pick out, with the promise to produce an heir, with the promise of running their businesses and investments and charities and whatever else that came with the perfectly planned-out plan of his old life. Lio was sure that he would say yes. He would promise his whole heart and soul away and live the rest of his life hollow and empty if it meant that he would never be hurt again. 

But he didn’t get a chance. “I thought you were an adult now,” his mother quipped.

“Yes, I thought so too,” his father remarked. “Figure it out yourself.”

The dull ring of an empty line echoed through his ears.

When Lio awoke it was into a fog. He thought that he still might be dreaming, he must be, because he could’ve swore that he heard his mother’s speak to him.

_“-head of the Fotia conglomerate issued the statement earlier today in a rare press conference. The issues raised online have yet to impact the many foundations under the Fotia name, but it appears that the statement was made as a preventative measure.”_

Lio blinked groggily, the news still playing before him as he remembered. Sitting up on the couch, a blanket he doesn’t remember getting slipped off his shoulders.

 _“We have had some inquiries as to the relation of one ‘Lio Fotia’ to our group name.”_ Lio won’t deny the heavy lump in his throat upon hearing his mother’s voice. She stood poised before a podium, long hair swept to the side and neatly pinned back. She had barely aged, and was still as stunningly beautiful as when he last saw her. She spoke elegantly and took her time looking at each camera individually. _“Normally, we would not address such a non-issue, something so easily disproven, but as concerns grew we decided it was best to be clear. The ‘Lio Fotia’ in question has no relation to any of our companies nor the Fotia family, and never has.”_

Lio watched his mother as she thanked the crowd gracefully, ignoring any questions thrown at her with a simple turn. The TV screen changed back to the well-styled newscasters reporting on the conference before she made it back into the building that served as a backdrop to her little speech.

Lio, at first, was a bit stunned, before his face twisted firmly into a scowl. “That bitch,” was what he wanted to grind out before the words seized up in his throat. 

_“She, of course, took over the head of operations after her husband's passing earlier this year.”_

\---

“But she has his face,” Lucia spoke incredulously, gesturing at the TV mounted to the station wall. “I’m looking at Lio right now!”

“No one is disagreeing with you, Lucia,” Remi pointed out, sipping his coffee gingerly. He made a face. Still too hot. 

“But how is she going to say that he has no relation to her when _she has his face!”_ Pointing hard at the still image she had paused, some of the color on the screen distorted a bit. “If Lio somehow softened his jaw and grew his hair out and started wearing mascara, he would look just like her!”

“Who exactly are you trying to convince here?” Remi asked, annoyed. “I have eyes, I can see it plenty enough for myself.” 

“Is anyone else saying it though?” Lucia said, pulling out her phone. “Surely even these idiots can see this much.” 

Remi sighed, but brought out his own phone to investigate himself. 

People always thought he was strictly the educated type, with his glasses and position of vice-captain, but those close enough to him knew of the guilty pleasure he found reality TV shows to be. Yes, he knew they were mostly fake in one way or another. The way he saw it, it was a lot like going to see a magician. _Of course_ it wasn’t “real” magic, but most people go to those shows well-aware of that fact and they have no issue being entertained nonetheless.

Remi, as much as he liked watching docuseries on nature and science and whatever else, also liked trainwrecks. It was a different experience being a passive observer than it was being on a boxcar, however. It was far less enjoyable being on the rails when you knew what awaited at the end. Remi was doing his best to use all his experience gawking at online drama to steer the events away from disaster.

“Where are you looking?” he asked of Lucia, who replied that she was flying through the tag on Twitter. _‘Amaeteur,’_ he thought. 

He was a bit too cocky about his knowledge, but it came with the results to back it up. He knew that for the real conversation to be found, he’d have to go right to whatever article or video clip was being shared by the news outlet themselves. People using the hashtag were intending to be seen and were often just repeating takes like an echo, but the people who didn’t think they would be heard at all tended to be far more honest.

“I found something,” he reported, and Lucia was by his side in a second. “Someone with the username “Clarissa_rissa” shares the sentiment.”

“That she stole his face?”

Remi blinked. “No, not that one, exactly… She also believes she is lying.” Lucia made a grab for his phone, but Remi was quick to learn and easily dodged the attempt. “ _She’s lying,_ ” he read out. “ _I went to school with Lio and she is absolutely his mother._ ”

“See if her DMs are open,” Lucia instructed, but Remi was already on it. “Sweet, they are. Maybe she has some info that can help dispel all this crap.”

“ _Hello, I work with Fire Rescue in Promepolois. Can we talk for a bit about Lio Fotia?_ ” he typed. “Anything to add?” When Lucia replied that she didn’t, he hit send. To their surprise a reply came back almost immediately. 

_“I suppose. Though I haven't spoken to him in a long time. Do you know him?_ ”

“ _Yes, we worked closely together during the aftermath of the Second Blaze. We’re trying to clear his name._ ” Thinking better of it, he erased the last part. It seemed like this person may be on their side, but it was unwise to show their hand so soon regardless. It was better to keep their intentions vague. Instead, he typed out “ _You said you were classmates?_ ’ instead and hit send.

“ _Yes we went through all of Secondary together. We weren’t exactly friends but he was nice enough. I thought about reconnecting once I learned that he wasn’t dead and saved the world and everything lol but he has been very difficult to reach. It doesn’t seem like he has any social media. And now all this has happened..._ ”

“Secondary school?” Lucia read over his shoulder. “That’s like high school in British. I thought she was talking about college or something.”

Remi nodded in agreement, a bit disappointed that the lead wound up being an old connection when he was hoping for something much more recent. The news that Lio apparently attended some form of schooling in the UK was a bit new, but it was more of a confirmation after seeing Mrs. Fotia and hearing her manner of speaking on the news than anything else. Still, something else caught his eye.

“ _Wasn’t dead?_ ” he asked.

The response took a bit longer to arrive. “ _He just didn’t show. Last I saw him was at the end of our lower sixth form and he was supposed to come back for our last year but he just didn’t._

“ _His family didn’t move and we all thought it would be very odd to transfer at such a time. Someone heard that the school had actually questioned where he was but his parents placated them somehow, so rumors took off from there._

_“There were a quite a few ridiculous ones, but the one most agreed upon was that he had been kidnapped for ransom and his parents didn’t want to pay so they just let whomever it was keep him.”_

“Wow,” Remi commented. 

“Yeah, kinda get the sense Mom and Dad weren’t the caring type.” Nodding to the TV, Lucia added “Or at the very least Mom sure isn’t.”

Remi’s phone dinged. “ _I know we were only children at the time but I do feel sort of foolish believing in such a thing lol especially knowing now that he just ran off with a boy._

“ _They look happy together in those pictures, at least. I’m glad he was able to find happiness. He seemed so depressed most days._ ”

Lucia squinted at the screen. “Wait a minute…”

Remi nodded in agreement. “Do you still have that article we were looking at the other day?”

“Yeah, lemme pull it up.” As Lucia fiddled with her phone Remi replied.

“ _Do you mean Ellias?_ ” At first, the woman on the other side of the screen did nothing. Then, the typing bubble popped in and out.

“Uh oh, we freaked her out,” Lucia hummed.

“She probably realizes that she said too much,” Remi agreed.

“Hopefully she doesn’t bail.” She pulled up a chair and set her phone on the table. “Got the article back.”

It had been an easy find. Aleka’s username was just her first and last name, so all they needed to do was plug “Ellias Donatus” into Google to find a 2017 article out of Detroit; _Townhome Destroyed in Burnish Fire, Suspect at Large._ Remi and Lucia immediately zeroed in on what they had glossed over the first time.

“Says he was twenty-eight when he died,” Lucia observed.

“And this was in 2017-”

“And Lio is twenty-five now-” 

“Which means five years ago he would’ve been twenty?” The pair shared a grimace.

“If that,” Lucia pointed out. “Article’s from April, means he was still nineteen.” Galo wouldn’t let anyone forget the man’s birthdate ever since discovering they had missed both his twenty-fourth _and_ twenty-fifth.

“That’s... That’s a little…” A notification interrupted him.

“ _I really don’t know, so def don’t take my word for it, of course. I could be wrong, but thought the boy in the pictures was the same boy I had seen with Lio sometimes back then. Was there another boy?_ ”

“ _Not that I’m aware of._ ” Remi wrote back. He could feel that they were losing her in her hesitance. If they wanted to keep her talking they would have to share something of their own to keep her interest. “ _The timeline actually adds up, I’m realizing. Ellias was 28 when he died and Lio would’ve been 19 at the time. So it would be impossible for them to have met only a few years ago or so, like I had previously thought._ ”

She wrote back after a long pause. “ _Oh wow._ _I thought he did look older than us but that’s quite a bit older than I would’ve thought…_ ”

“ _Did you see him often? With Lio?_ ”

After a while of typing the reply appeared. “ _I had book club every now and again and we held it in a library near the school. Lio sometimes went there to pass the time. I asked if he wanted to join once but he said he was too busy. Then this guy starts showing up with him and I thought he was his tutor or something…_

“ _I feel sort of bad about it now! He was really fit so I didn’t think anything of it. I thought he was just out of school, maybe early uni. I don’t know if I believe that Lio would’ve killed him or anybody, but like I said we didn’t know each other very well. But this changes the context of things a bit…_ ”

“My thoughts exactly,” Lucia muttered. “This guy was a creep if he was that old talking up high schoolers. Trust me, I’ve known my fair share of guys into the ‘younger-looking’ type.” Remi himself had become more than aware of the kind after going to a bar with Lucia only once. Between her and Aina, they moved their after-work gatherings to places that held a more wholesome energy.

“ _Can you do me a favour?_ ” The woman asked. 

“ _You’ve been very helpful, so of course._ ”

“ _I hope so. I always sort of regretted not being as friendly as I could to him._ ” Remi didn’t have time to ponder on the meaning of that before another message was sent. “ _Can you help me reach out to him? I’d really like to reconnect. If you could just tell him that Clarissa Sighn would like to speak with him somehow? I have a few ways to chat without racking up the toll call charge if he doesn’t have any social media._ ”

“ _I’ll pass on the message._ ” Remi didn’t know how, as according to Galo’s moping about, Lio has been MIA for a while, but he would try.

“ _Thank you. Let me know what he says._ ” The man started to reply before the typing bubble popped up again. “ _Oh! If he doesn’t remember me and doubts that I actually know him, you can tell him that I know of a story no one else but someone who went to that school would know._

“ _In fourth form, we were in class waiting for the teacher to come in and start class, this guy had walked up to him and called him a poofter. Lio didn’t say anything, but he stood up from his desk chair and smashed his nose in. It was right mad lol_ ”

“See, now that sounds more like Lio,” Lucia remarked.

Remi sighed. “ _I will be sure to let him know that too._ ” Then, he added: “ _Thank you for your help._ ”

“So,” Lucia began as Remi closed the chat. “This guy was a creep. And we could put that out there, maybe turn the tides a bit, but it would still be our word against hers. It’d be more credible coming from Lio, but the guy is playing hide-and-seek and he’s really effin good at it. Must be all those years of experience hiding in the desert.” When her vice-captain did not respond, she asked “What’s on your mind?”

Remi, staring down at his darkened phone, was wading through his thoughts. “Do you remember when Burnish would awaken?” 

“Of course I do.”

“You remember how it was hardly random, when they awoke? We found out it was usually after someone was experiencing great anger or distress?”

Lucia sat up. “Yeah…”

“And the bigger the stressor was, the bigger the fire, and in times where someone would get away and come back their strength seemed to scale with however ‘worse’ said stressor was?”

“Ah.” Upon realizing fully where the man was going, she started picking through her own thoughts. “That is an interesting angle to take.”

“Lio was pretty powerful, wasn’t he?”

“He sure was, but that theory is a bit outdated now, isn’t it? No one knew that the Promare were living things. We just thought people were catchin’ on fire.” With a shrug, Lucia added, “How would the Promare pick and choose who is more powerful than who? Based on emotion? Who knows, it’s not like we can study them now. Or...” 

Remi caught a sudden, worrisome glint in her eye. “What are you thinking _now-_ ” 

The door burst open, thrown open wide by Varys’ large frame. 

“Turn the channel!” he ordered. “Lio’s on TV!”

\---

It was Guiera’s phone that rang. The name on the screen let him know it was the woman currently hosting Lio that was calling him. He thought it was odd for her to call, sure, but he didn’t think much of it until his “hello” was met with “Is Boss with you?”

“No, he was supposta to be at your place,” Guiera reminded, tone a bit worried. “Is he not there?”

She hesitated for a moment. “I came back and he seemed a bit out of sorts, so I gave him some space and spent some time in my room for a bit. But when I came out to see if he would like some dinner he wasn’t there. He must’ve left, but his phone is still here and I don’t know where he would’ve gone…”

Sensing an upcoming apology, Guiera attempted to cut it off at the pass. “He may be headin’ over here or something. You know how he is, he’s probably fine. Don’t worry about it so much.”

“I’m really sorry, sir…”

“It’s fine, thanks for lettin’ me know.” His voice was even and steady, but he had already moved the pan of food he was working on to the side, abandoning dinner to seek out Meis. “Stay there in case he comes back.”

“Okay…” He found Meis in their living room, peering out their window to the front of the building watching the crowd below, pane cracked open to eavesdrop. They were lucky to be so high up that no one could see inside from the streets, but he leaned back to stay out of view all the same. He was focused in on an older man he recognized as showing up to these things frequently.

“Boss disappeared from Mazy’s apartment,” he told him. “He left his burner behind.”

Meis swore under his breath, letting the curtain fall close on the window, but it did little to stop the noise from from below. “That’s not like him…”

“I _told_ you he was losing it!” Gueira argued, smashing his thumb into the contact listed as _Boss-Stealer._ “I’m calling that blue-bastard, maybe he went over to his place.”

“Boss isn’t ‘losing it,’ he’s stressed the fuck out,” Meis reasoned. “Maybe he went for a walk and forgot his phone. He did it once already.”

“He didn’t forget his phone that time, it broke and shut itself off because it’s an old piece of shi- Galo!” Immediately Guiera’s tone shifted. “Hey, man. Hey, buddy. How you been doin’?”

_“Is something wrong with Lio? Is he okay?”_

The ex-leader laughed nervously. “What? I can’t just call up my good friend Galo?”

_“Oh, god. You lost him didn’t you.”_

“No, I- We- I wouldn’t say _lost_ -

_“I’m coming over to help search!”_

“No! No, you are not! Listen to me!” Galo didn’t respond, but he had yet to hang up the phone. Guiera counted it as a small blessing. “You are going to stay there in case he comes to you. Meis is going to stay _here_ in case he comes back _here_ , got it?” He heard a mumble of “okay” as he turned to Meis, who nodded. “ _I_ am going to go out looking for him. Let me know if he does show up. Clear?”

_“Yeah, but… You know maybe some of Burning Rescue could help. I’m actually out with Aina now so I could head back and she could-”_

“No, I got it covered. Just go back to your place and-” He paused, glancing up at Meis. “Try not to worry. He’s probably just out for a walk and forgot his phone.” He didn’t wait for a response, hanging up the phone and refusing to meet his boyfriend’s approving eye.

“It was very nice for you to reassure him like that,” Meis said evenly.

“Shut up,” he growled, though it was hardly intimidating to the other general. “I don’t want him getting in the way, that’s all.” Halfway out their door he called out: “I’ll keep you updated.”

Meis nodded. “Of course. I’ll let you know if he comes back here.”

Guiera was gone for less than a minute when Meis heard it, loud and clear through their open window.

“ I don’t have any money, you stupid cunt. ”

\---

“That was Gueira, Lio’s missing again,” Galo told Aina, who sipped her drink thoughtfully.

“Well, at least now you know you’re not the only one he runs out on.”

He smiled a little, but it did little to conceal his worry. “He says I should wait at my place to see if he shows up there. You mind if we cut our lunch date short?”

Aina waved him off. “Of course not! Do you want me to come with you?”

Her coworker stirred his drink with his straw absentmindedly, trying to look unbothered. “I mean… you don’t have to, but… it would be nice, to have company still.”

“Of course, Galo,” she said with a sweet smile.

Galo leaned back in his chair, uncertain expression on his face, seemingly unsatisfied with the answer. “I mean, like, you don’t have to, you know. If you got somewhere you need to be I don’t wanna stop you. I don’t want to be a bother-”

“The only thing that’s gonna bother me is you calling yourself ‘a bother.’” Aina spoke sharply. Her frown faded back into her previous expression, soft and understanding. “If I was annoyed with you, I’d tell you. You don’t need to worry about things like that. You’re my friend, Galo, and I wouldn’t call you that if I didn’t want to be around you.”

Slowly, Galo’s sheepish mood turned to relief. “Thanks, Aina. I’m sorry I’ve been all” - he waved his hands around in a disarray - “lately. Things have been kinda…”

“I know they have. And don’t worry about it!” She stood up and bopped him over the head lightly with the billfold holding the check. “I’m going to go upfront and see about getting us some to go boxes and getting us out of here. I’ll be back.”

Galo nodded. He watched as she went back inside, before deciding to people-watch as he waited. He thought he saw the same sauve hat he saw a few days ago, but he realized he was wrong when he got a better look. He had moved to tapping out a drum solo when he started to wonder what was taking so long. He was pretty sure it had only been a few minutes, but the amount of effort he was putting into not checking his phone made each second seem painfully long. 

He couldn’t keep looking at his screen like he was refreshing a page for updates; if Lio contacted him, he would hear it ring and feel it vibrate. He did not need to check. He certainly did not need to scroll through Twitter. He would not do that. He did not _want_ to do that. Who would want to torture themselves like that? Not Galo.

Every muscle in him suddenly felt just slightly twitchy. He looked back to the restaurant, hoping to see Aina heading back, but instead he saw her standing there looking up at a TV screen displaying-

Galo was up on his feet before he could even think about it, weaving through patio tables with practiced ease, eyes locked on Lio. He looked angry to the untrained eye, but even from a distance and through a TV screen he could tell the man was actually quite frazzled - there was a darkness in his eyes that indicated that Lio wasn’t really all there. Whatever he was doing - which was speaking into a megaphone as he marched up a set of stairs where Aleka had stationed herself, looking just as stunned as the rest of the crowd - he certainly wasn’t thinking it through.

Galo made it inside just as Lio pitched the megaphone to the ground, he could hear the news cameras pick up his commanding voice. “ Get the hell away from here! I am not allowing you to stop me from going to my flat any longer! ” 

“Aina!” Galo grasped ahold of her shoulder, catching her attention.

“I, uh…” was all she had to offer him. “That was…”

“We need to get to his place. It didn’t look good - even from the little I saw. _He_ doesn’t look good.”

Aina closed her mouth, finding her clarity once more. “Right. You go ahead, I’ll pay and get our stuff and head out.” Then, with the same look of determination he often gave to her right before he did something foolish on the job, she said, “If you run you can make it there in five.”

\---

Lio pushed his way through the crowd in front of his apartment building.

 _‘Idiots,’_ he fumed internally. _‘Screaming about me and yet not a single one of them has noticed that I’m right beside them.’_

He had made his way to the front, mostly by shoving, until he could see Aleka. She was lecturing or giving a speech or whatever. Lio didn’t know what the hell she was doing, but just seeing her filled him with fire. He furiously yanked a megaphone out of a protester’s hands. He turned it on like he had operated one a hundred times and - with perfect clarity and diction, rage searing his words into the crowd, demanding a delivered silence from them - said: “ I don’t have any money, you stupid cunt. ” 

A dozen eyes were suddenly upon him. More, even, if you were to count the eyes watching the live broadcasts. Lio felt none of them, but Aleka’s, who stared down from her makeshift podium in shock. 

“ This is what this is about, isn’t it? Money? You think my father left me some grand inheritance when he died? That’s why you are bringing up this shite now, right? You _could’ve_ done so last year, or the year before that if you were so torn up about it. ”

Aleka’s mouth opened and closed like a fish.

“ I don’t know how in the hell you think that is going to work out for you- get- Don’t touch me!  ” The man who had tried to take back his megaphone slank back into the crowd, almost embarrassed to be the target of Lio’s attention. Stepping forward to put distance between himself and the mob, Lio went on furiously. “  My parents disowned me _years_ ago for being gay and running off with _your_ brother! There will be no money coming my way so you can go ahead stop your dramatic carrying on! ”

The woman’s lips pursed in tight, like she was holding back eruptive tears. Holding a shaking mic to her mouth, she spoke as calmly as she could. “My brother is dead because of you. This isn’t a dra-”

“ Your brother is dead because of _you!_ ” he snapped, Aleka reeling back as if she had been sucker punched. “  I _told_ you what was happening to me, I _told you_ how he was beating the holy hell out of me and I begged you for help! Then you _lied_ to me and turned around and-! And _tattled!_ ”

“I-” she stuttered, panicked eyes darting out into the following at the foot of the steps. “That’s not- Don’t try to blame me-!”

“ If _you_ hadn’t told him that I wanted help, he would have not flown into the rage that he did! He tried to _kill me_ that day! Hands around my neck! Wringing the very life from me like I was nothing more than a rag to him!  ” His shouting alone was deafening, but through the megaphones’ strength, Lio could’ve sworn he heard the building’s windows shake as he marched up the stairs. “  If none of that would have happened, I would not have turned Burnish and your brother may very well still be alive. Who the hell _knows_ if I would be! Which - in turn! - means that _no one_ would be! If I had not been alive and Burnish at the time that I was, _where_ I was, then everyone-!  ” He whipped around to address the crowd now. “  Every single one of you would have ended up burned alive on a dead planet! So _you’re welcome_ for that!  ” He turned back to Aleka, leaving the megaphone by his side as he glowered at her. “  If I’m responsible for your brother’s death then so are you . ”

He pitched the speaker to the ground, hearing it break as he demanded for her and a few of her followers blocking the door to move. “ Get the hell away from here! I am not allowing you to stop me from going to my flat any longer! ” His fury was enough to get them to scurry in separate directions, clearing his path. 

Meanwhile, ten floors up, Meis was trying to reach Guiera, but there was no signal in their building’s elevator shaft. Lio stormed by as the numbers above the doors flashed the number four, heading straight to the stairwell without a single hint of dubiety. Five steps out of the elevator is when Gueira’s phone registered a call, along with the notification of several other missed ones.

 _“_ Hello? _”_ he answered, confused. 

“ _Lio is outside!_ ”

“Outside where?” Guiera asked rapidly, tension immediately high. 

“ _Outside our building! Or- well…_ ”

“What? What is it?!” He raced to the front doors. Throwing them open, he was immediately met with a surge of screaming people and the backs of officers keeping the angry mob at bay. Guiera just as swiftly slammed the doors closed. 

“ _He was outside, but he went in, I think! Where are you?_ ”

“I’m still in the lobby! I just got off the elevator, but I didn’t see him! I _don’t_ see him now!” He rushed back to the lift doors, the number on them frozen. “Even if he snuck past me somehow, it looks like no one is using it, so-!”

“ _Did he take the stairs?_ ” By the time Meis had said it he was already inside the stairwell.

“Lio!” he shouted upwards.

“ _What?!_ ” came back the enraged reply. 

“He’s here, heading upwards,” Guiera spoke into the phone, not waiting for a response before hanging up, starting his hustle up the stairs. “Boss, what the _hell_ are you doing?!”

“I’m getting my phone, what the hell are _you_ doing?! ”

“ _I’m-!_ I’m! Jesus, I’m dying.” Gueira paused, hands on his knees, wheezing weakly after running up four flights. He could still hear the stomping of Lio’s boots, marching on. “We live on the tenth floor, what _the fuck_ are you doing taking the stairs?!” Lio muttered something angrily that Gueira was unable to catch. “Just wait a sec! Hold on!”

“I will not! ” The slam of a door echoed throughout the well, leaving Gueira to hike alone.

Meis heard the jangle of keys at the door, but it burst open before he could even get halfway there to open it himself. The man was drenched in sweat and shaking, a livid expression carved into his face.

“Boss! What are you-”

“I’m here to get my phone and sleep in my own bed! Are you to try and stop me as well? ”

“No, I- Where’s Gueira?”

“Still in the stairwell, I would imagine! ” Lio announced as he stormed into his room, Meis, trailing closely behind.

“You took the stairs? We live on the tenth floor!” Nearly dodging a pillow haphazardly thrown over Lio’s shoulder as the man dug through his belongings madly, Meis added: “And you’re wearing skinny jeans…”

The other man whirled around, a significant portion of his room in disarray. “ Where is my phone. ”

It was on the kitchen counter, but Meis wasn’t about to tell him that. “Boss, let’s just calm down here-” he didn’t get a chance to finish before Lio tried to get by him and he had to abruptly spread himself out in the doorframe to stop him.

Lio fumed, something wild and unrecognizable to his friend in his eyes. “ How dare you. Do _not_ try to block me. ”

“You need to calm down.”

A loud thump sounded behind him from their front door before it swung open and an out-of breath Gueira practically fell inside. 

“He’s talking fancy!” the man weakly shouted. Using the distraction to his advantage, Lio ducked around his blockade and quickly got to work rummaging.

“Boss, you need to calm down,” Meis repeated, but he got no reply. He orbited around his leader, trying to catch his eye, but the phone in question caught it instead. Lio made a beeline for the device, but Meis was quicker, and with his longer reach was able snatch it up before the other. This, apparently, Lio had anticipated. With a single and targeted snag of the Meis’ wrist, his grip was forced to unlock, dropping the phone right into Lio’s waiting grasp.

Though his release was immediate and pain was minimal, Meis’ arm still snapped back on reflex, allowing Lio plenty of time to put several quick-paced strides between them. Gueira had recovered enough to haul himself over to the doorway to Lio’s room, taking his turn to block it.

“What the hell has gotten into you?!” he barked, though it still came out winded. “You’re acting crazy! Who the hell are you calling at a time like this?!” Lio did not reply, finishing up the number he dialed into his phone, giving up entirely on making it to his own room.

Meis approached him, intending to turn him around and put a stop to the call - there was not a single person he could think of that their boss needed to talk to while in such a state - but the instant his fist wrapped around his arm Lio let out a sharp, terrified yell.

“ _Don’t!_ ” He ripped his body away from the pair, eyes blown wide for several moments before focusing into a glower. “  Do not touch me. ”

Alarmed, Meis backed-off, hands up as Guiera joined him by his side. The two men shared a look of deep concern over the outburst. 

“Lio, what the fuck is going on here?” Guirea said. He felt like he was pleading with a man leaning over the top rail of a high bridge. “Talk to us, come on. We’re family here.”

Lio, to his credit, seemed as if he were about to answer. He had the look of a cornered animal that all at once changed to that of a predator, zeroed-in on his prey. The phone, still pressed hard against his ear, ceased it’s dull dial tone as it was answered. 

“The _Ieast_ you could’ve done is let me know that my goddamn father died!  ” he snapped into the phone. “  You know I’m alive, you know what city I am in, _clearly_ you haven’t forgotten I exist! So what’s your excuse here?!  ” His two generals stared at him as he began to furiously pace around the room. They both shared another look between one another at the information, this time it was openly stunned and borderline appalled. Lio did not seem to notice, too focused on his one-sided conversation. “  No relation, is that right? That’s rich. Since I have no connection to your name I suppose I don’t have any obligations to it either? I should probably just unload all this insider knowledge that’s weighing me down. I wonder what the stock values will be once the shareholders hear about a possible leak to the presses? ”

A long silence on the other line, then a deep breath. _“You don’t have anything that would-”_

“Oh no? Would you like to bet your precious ‘group name’ on that, mother dearest?  ” he bit out, sickeningly sweet. “  They say that all press is good press, but I wonder how people would react to knowing that the head of operations was suspected of being so unfaithful in her marriage to the point where her husband had no less than three separate DNA tests done on their son! ”

An undignified noise left his mother’s mouth, but she quickly recovered. _“So you’ll be making things up now? I am not so easily intimidated by lies-”_

“It’s not a lie in the slightest! Even if it were, you are hardly in the spot to lecture me as if you have any moral high ground after that interview - lying me out of existence as you did.  ” Lio’s stride came to a halt in front of the window, slamming it shut to stop the noise from outside before continuing onward. “  Speaking of moral high ground, homophobia is rather out of style at the moment. Do you think the general public will want to shop at any of the places your family has invested in? Or do you think profits will drop for anyone associated with your name? On a related note, I bet the public is going to _love_ the percentage of donations that _actually_ go to the cause for your various ‘charities,’ don’t you? Oh, and of course I remember how you two used to boast to people about how exactly we’re related to the royal family and all those complicated titles and ‘old money’ drivel, but I take it you haven’t brought up how close of chums Great Uncle and Prince Andrew were in a while, have you? ” 

Another bout of cold silence caused Lio’s stride to slow. He briefly wondered if she had hung up on him, like she had so many times before, but before he could pull away his phone to check, he heard a strong sigh. He knew it well, that sigh. He heard it every time he asked or suggested or said anything that he thought was wholly innocuous, but turned out to be - at least in his mother’s eyes - deeply insulting. It brought back strong memories of the few times he had asked ”why” before he had properly learned not to.

 _“_ _What do you want, Lio?_ _”_

“I- ” The question took him completely by surprise. Like a rip to a tire, he rapidly deflated down from his high. He looked back at his friends, actually seeing them this time. They looked worried sick standing there away from him with Galo. To see the man standing there was so unexpected that at first he thought he was nothing more than a hallucination brought on by his bout of mania, but the troubled expression he wore was too real.

Lio was suddenly too aware of himself. Feeling too weak in his legs, he wilted down in the nearest chair. “I don’t _know_ what I want. I don’t want anything! What do _you_ want? What is it that _you_ want from me?”

 _“_ _I’m not the one who made this call, carrying on like a rabid cur._ _”_

“Just-  ” Lio shut his eyes tight, cradling his head in his free hand. “  I don’t know wh- What is your reasoning here? For doing this to me? Was it so impossible for you to at least let me know? ”

The woman clicked her tongue, annoyed. _“_ _What’s done is done. There’s no sense dwelling on the past._ _”_

“Of course you would say something like that,  ” Lio grumbled. “  You always were so dismissive- how foolish of me to expect anything different. Did anything ever matter to you? ”

Another signature sigh had Lio’s expression twisting painfully, but two hands on his shoulders had him looking up. 

Meis looked down at him, trying to silently convey just how much he hurt for him, eyes locked on his own and frown deepset, a quiet anger about him. Guiera too stared back at him, determined to show that he had their support with his jaw set in the way Lio recognized he did when he had too much he wanted to say to speak properly. His hand was taken by Galo, nails no longer digging themselves into his face - Lio hadn’t even noticed that he was doing it - and from his gaze he could feel the other’s need to protect. His expression was pleading, but Lio didn’t know to whom the begging was directed to - Galo didn’t know either.

Surrounded, the young man felt a bit at a loss. His body ached, his head hurt, and he just was so goddamn _tired._ He was tired of fighting against the tide, tired of struggling to keep his head above water. For once, he wanted someone to drag him onto shore and keep him there. He wanted a chance to stay on the safety of land instead of diving head-first back into the waves as soon as he could simply because drowning was all he ever knew how to do.

 _“_ _I want you to disclaim your inheritance,_ _”_ she said finally.

Momentarily forgetting himself, Lio let out a scoff of a laugh. “ What, the bellend actually left me something? ”

 _“_ _Govern yourself,_ _”_ came the sharp reply, cracking out of her like a whip. 

Lio rolled his eyes. “ I don’t want any of your dragon’s horde. Keep your blood money.  ” When she didn’t respond right away he added, “  There. Are you happy now? ”

 _“_ _Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple,_ _”_ the woman muttered. 

“Did you honestly think I’d fight you for it? Your money has brought me nothing but grief, you should’ve known I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it. ” 

_“_ _Yes, you were never one to handle responsibility,_ _”_ she commented casually. Lio gritted his teeth hard, but the hands on him squeezed harder. _“_ _It would seem he held out some hope for you, however. Though I already told the executors you wouldn’t be able to meet the conditions he set and even saying that you are unreachable and no longer in the family picture did nothing, no matter how true it was. Because of your dramatics everyone knows who you are, and so the assets are frozen until it’s claimed or forfeited, officially._ _”_

“I didn’t choose to get dragged into this. You and Aleka are the ones stoking the fire, I’ve been doing my all to stay out of it. ”

 _“_ _Not these dramatics, I’m talking about the other ones from a few years ago. Trouble is never far behind you, is it?_ _”_

“Are you…  ” he started, dumbfounded. “  Referring to the time I _actually_ saved the world? ”

Yet another disconsolate sigh was heard. _“_ _I know it was always a struggle for you, but it’s about time you stood to learn some humility, don’t you think?_ _”_

“Please accept my humblest apologies,  ” Lio stated dully. “  If it’s any consolation, I do very much regret doing all that now. ”

She tsked. _“_ _...No matter. I’ll get back to you with some paperwork tomorrow. You’ve put me in such a mood and it’s too late to do it all properly today. Don’t call me, I’ll call you._ _”_

“You’re only going to drag this out if you block me again,  ” he warned her. “  I have nothing to lose at this point. Unlike you. ”

 _“_ _Don’t be ridiculous,_ _”_ was all she said before the line went dead.

Lio allowed his phone to fall lazily from his hand into his lap, sinking back into the cushions. For a moment, all was quiet. “ She… Ah,  she said-” Gueira’s sudden and tight embrace cut him off.

“I am so sorry, man. That was fucking awful.” Then, as if to explain himself, he added, “Your phone is a piece of shit, we can hear every conversation you have from three rooms away.”

Meis joined in, slinging his arms around the two as best he could. “We’ll get you a new phone for your birthday. A new-new one. One of those that can take pictures in the dark and shit.”

“I don’t need a new phone,” Lio protested weakly.

“ _I_ need you to have a new phone.”

Feeling a sniff against his hair, Lio asked, “Guiera, are you crying again?”

“...No,” was the tear-clogged response. Suddenly, he yanked his head up, bleary glare focused in on Galo. “You blue raspberry sonofabitch are you just gonna sit there and do nothing or are you going to get in here?!”

Galo jumped at the sudden call-out, but hesitated all the same, looking at Lio warily. Lio had no such qualms and, to Galo’s great relief, reached out for him. He was to his side in an instant, sticking to them like tape. 

“I’m so _so_ sorry, Lio,” he told him sincerely. “This whole thing just keeps getting worse.”

Lio shrugged haplessly. “It’s-”

“Don’t you dare say ‘it’s fine,’” Meis interrupted. “We could burn her house down for you.”

“We’re not Burnish anymore.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“But-”

“No ‘but’s, Boss,” Gueira scolded. 

“Right, I just-”

“Absolutely not,” Meis intervened. “Just let us love you.”

“Okay, But I-”

“Lio, you deserve to be loved and safe!” Galo burst out. He was bordering on tears, but Guiera tipped him over.

“He’s right, Boss!” the red-head cried, squeezing them all tighter together. “We love you so much! We just want you to be happy!!” The end of his sentences dissolved into ugly crying. The two men were full on sobbing disgustingly on Lio, who looked to Meis for help only to see that he would find none there. The man had turned his head away, but Lio could still see that he was welling up.

“My god, that is all fine and well, but I _have_ to say something before it weighs on me too heavily.” 

“Of… of course,” Galo managed to get out when the two calmed down enough. “We’re listening. We’re here for you.”

“We’re here for you, Boss!” Gueira echoed.

“Stop shouting, Gueira, we can all hear you just fine,” Meis reasoned, still trying to avoid being seen.

“Don’t dampen my love!”

“Listen! This is important!” All eyes went to the young man in the center of their embrace, annoyed expression plastered over his face. “I don’t think we have a plan that covers long distance. These calls may get expensive.”

Meis eventually broke the silence that hung over them for several beats with a very eloquently put “Oh shit, you’re right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea of Lio being Ross in that episode of Friends where he’s acting completely insane cause Joey and Rachel are dating now and when they ask him if he’s alright he just goes “toTALly…”
> 
> -
> 
> Thanks again for all the comments and kudos! It is seriously making me so happy in this hellish timescape that has become my life. Send good vibes my way - by the time this fic is posted in its entirety I will probably have heard back in regards to some (potentially) good news! Wish me luck!


	7. Changeling

“How’s he doing?” Aina asked, legs swinging carelessly beneath her. She sat on the grated floor of Galo’s fire escape, looking out at the city before them. Galo leaned back against the railings, staring into his window at the back of the three former Burnish watching some movie on his couch.

“Okay, I guess. Well, as okay as he can be,” he answered.

“He getting settled?”

“He’s been ‘moved-in’ for less than twenty-four hours and I know he’s not planning on staying. I don’t think there’s much settling to do even if he had the time for it.”

“I think he’ll be staying for a while,” Aina said, teasing. Meis and Guiera insisted on Lio staying with him and all but physically carried the seething man to Galo’s apartment. Sneaking them all out had been a pain in the ass, but it was worth it to have Lio somewhere close by where he knew he wasn’t in trouble. Galo was still nervous around him, unsure of himself and where he stood, but he was wrong before in thinking it would do him well to keep a distance; it felt much better to have him by his side.

Still, things were awkward in an unsaid sense between them. Neither man made mention of the last time they spoke alone. In fact, they barely spoke at all these past several hours other than a minor tiff over sleeping arrangements last night (Galo had tried to offer his bed, but Lio looked at him as if he had spit in his eye and told him “I am not robbing you of your bed, you idiot-host. Either I’m sleeping on the couch or I’m sleeping on the floor, take your pick”). 

Now, they all were waiting around for a phone call from Lio’s mother. Aina was not initially included in that plan, but she came over with a surprise care-package. As soon as he opened the door Galo was handed the giant basket of soft and soapy things, saying matter-of-factly, “I know Lio is going to refuse this, so I’m giving it to you.”

“You should’ve heard her, Aina,” he spoke. “Like she was talking to an annoying stranger trying to sell her something on the street instead of her own son.”

“She sounds horrid. If that’s what Lio grew up with I’m not surprised he jumped ship as soon as he could and with whoever would help him.” She looked up at him, serious expression on. “He knows that, which is why he’s been avoiding being with you. Making sure he doesn’t make you into a rebound for support in place of an actual relationship.”

“I guess…”

Aida scowled. “‘I guuueesss’ nothing. I know. You’re an amazing guy, Galo, stop beating yourself up for things you can’t control. Remember what we talked about yesterday?”

“Yes…” he said, defeated. “Yes, yes, I know. I just wish that I had my shit a bit more together so that we only had one person’s” he waved his hands around, jumbling them and he made muted explosion noises ”to deal with at a time.”

“If you two are planning on waiting until you’re all healed up, you both are going to be waiting forever,” Aina explained. “There are people out there half as ready in perfectly happy relationships. You guys gonna wait till you achieve world peace too?”

Galo looked back down at her, pointing at her playfully. “Don’t give me ideas!”

She laughed, but her words were lamenting through the humor. “Come on, Galo! I’m not saying you guys should hurry-up and get married or whatever, but maybe having him rely on you more will actually help both of you overcome your fear of being happy.”

“I don’t have a fear of being happy!” he protested, to which Aina waved him off.

“Sure, sure.”

“I don’t think Lio does either. It’s not like he’s afraid of being happy, I think. It’s just- he’s- he’s afraid of _needing_ me.”

“Needing _you_ ? Or, like, needing _anybody?_ ” Galo’s hesitance to answer was enough to tell her that he too thought it was the latter. “You can’t seriously be telling me that you think that’s healthy.”

“I never said that I did-”

“And you seriously can’t be blaming yourself for an issue he has with literally everybody.”

“I’m not!”

“Sure, sure.”

“I’m not! I just- He- I want-” Frustrated, he pouted sullenly for a few moments, trying to organize his words into meaningful sentences this time. Aina waited patiently. “Maybe I am, in a way, but not really, I don’t think. It’s different! The distrust he has for everyone comes from being Burnish. The distrust he has for me is because I want to get in his pants...”

Aina arched an eyebrow. “Are those _actually_ Lio’s words or are those the words of a recently invented version of Lio in your head that only exists to say mean things to you? Because that sure isn’t how you felt before all this came to light.”

“Even an imaginary Lio would never be mean to me,” Galo says pointedly.

“Do you hear yourself?” she asked incredulously, shaking her head. “You’re changing your narrative whenever it suits best to punish yourself.”

“I do not,” Galo huffed even though, if he were honest, he really didn’t understand what she meant by that.

“Look, I’m gonna break this down really easy,” Aina said tiredly. “Do you like Lio?”

“Of course.”

“Does Lio like you?”

“Yes, but-”

Aina stopped him, raising a hand up. “Ah! No buts! And I’m not even close to being done. Do you think you’re perfect?”

“No,” he answered readily.

“Do you think Lio thinks you’re perfect?”

“Definitely not...”

“Do you think Lio’s perfect?”

“Of course!”

“No!” she scolded, smacking his leg. “That’s the problem! Lio’s not perfect! Clearly!”

Galo jumped a bit, trying to avoid the light slaps. “But he’s just going through a hard time right now and I-”

“No! He is not ‘going through a hard time,’ this is how he is! This is how he’s reacting to the stress! Obviously he has bad management skills; he’s been putting off dealing with shit and now he doesn’t know how to handle himself and that’s _bad!_ It’s a _flaw, Galo!_ ”

The statement got the man a bit aggravated. “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t date him-!”

“That’s exactly right!” Aina interrupted excitedly. “It doesn’t! And do you know why?” Galo stared back at her, confused. “It’s because he’s _human._ He has _flaws_ and faults, for god’s sake. You need to stop idolizing him - he’s _a normal person._ You know?”

Galo, brow furrowed, said “Well of course he’s a normal person, he’s not Burnish anymore.”

“Galo, no…” she groaned, burying her face in her hands. Taking in a sharp inhale through her nose, she tried again, much slower this time. “What I’m trying to say is: if you put him up on a pedestal, the only thing that is going to achieve is- it makes him unreachable! It’s self-sabotaging! You understand?”

Galo squinted at her. “Not in the slightest, no.” Aina let out a rough sigh. “I especially don't understand how this relates at all to what we were talking about, which was that _Lio_ was the one who wasn’t ready for an ‘us.’ No matter what _I’m_ doing, right or wrong, I can’t just decide to be in a relationship if he doesn’t want to! I’m not gonna-” ‘ _force him’_ is what came to mind but Galo wouldn’t dare let those words escape his throat.

“I’m not talking about now,” Aina explained. “Obviously now is a bad time to schedule a coffee date. But there are only good times and bad times; there’s no such thing as a perfect time. So if you are _actually_ waiting for everything to blow over, that’s great, but don’t try to tell me you aren’t second guessing yourself.”

“That’s-!” Galo paused, distracted. Aina followed his line of sight to the three men inside, gathered by the door. Galo pushed himself forward, letting his hands hit the window sill as he leaned in. “You guys aren’t going somewhere, are you?”

They looked up. “Someone’s at your door,” Lio explained as the firefighter made his way back inside. “Says he’s here on behalf of my mother, but Meis says he’s seen him lurking around before.”

“I’ve seen him at nearly every protest at our building,” Meis said darkly. “He’s obviously trying to trick us.”

 _“I told you, I’m a private investigator,”_ came a gruff voice from behind the door. _“I was doing my job.”_

“And the only one with a motive to hire a private-eye is that psycho, lying, trash heap!” Gueira shouted back, kicking at the door. Galo winced at the abuse (hasn’t his apartment been through enough already?) and maneuvered closer to see for himself.

He popped the door open, the chain-lock snapping tight. A man stood in his hallway, looking back at him, waiting. He was an older gentleman - if Galo had to guess, he was maybe in his 40s-50s - with a brown overshirt-like jacket and-

He quickly shut the door. “I’ve seen him too. I recognize his hat.” The walker suede matched his jacket and it caught Galo’s eye for being “sauve” initially, but now it just seemed outright creepy.

_“That’s why I said-”_

Guirea kicked the door again with a barked order to shut up while Lio stepped a few feet away to make a call.

 _“_ _What is it you want now? I’m very busy._ _”_

“You-  You said that you would call and you haven’t, first of all,” Lio replied bitterly, stumbling only for a brief second in the beginning. “Second, there is a man here claiming to be here under your instruction. Did you send him?”

 _“_ _What did you do to your voice?_ _”_ the woman answered instead.

Lio sighed, annoyed. “This is how I sound now.” Then, as a sharp aside, he mumbled: “Not that you would know anything about that.”

 _“_ _You sound hideously American._ _”_

“Did you send someone to me or not?”

 _“_ _Well, who is this man? I can’t very well say unless I know who you are talking about._ _”_

“He says he’s a private investigator.”

 _“_ _And? What is this man’s name?_ _”_

“The fact that she isn’t just answering ‘no,’ means she did hire someone like that,” Meis scowled. 

“No, this is how she is,” Lio muttered angrily. “She never takes responsibility for anything, good or bad, until she’s figured out if it benefits her to do so. It’s loads of fun. Ask the man his name.”

Galo peeked out into his hallway once more. The man still stood there, looking entirely unamused. “What’s your name?” Galo asked.

“Luka Kostas.” Galo heard a heavy groan from him as the door was shut. 

“Luka Kostas,” he reported, though everyone had heard.

“He says his name is Luka Kostas,” Lio told her.

 _“_ _Oh, yes. That’s who I hired._ _”_

Lio pitched his head backwards, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. “Well, thank you so much for letting me know.”

 _“_ _Well you know now, don’t you?_ _”_ This time, Lio was the one to hang up first.

“Let him in,” he directed. Galo obeyed and Mr. Kostas stepped in and took off his hat in one smooth motion.

“Thank you,” he greeted. “Do you have a table to sit down at? There are papers I’d like to go over with you.”

“It’s not my place,” Lio said coldly, still suspicious. “It’s not my right to invite you to sit anywhere.”

Taking his cue, Galo spoke up. “Well, I don’t have a table-table, just a breakfast bar. I used to have a coffee table, but I had to throw it away ‘cause the legs got a little… burnt.”

The older man turned to squint at Galo, as if he wanted to ask. In the end, he decided against it. “I guess I’ll sit here then,” he said, gesturing to the single-seat lounge chair in Galo’s living room. 

As he got himself settled, pulling a briefcase up onto his lap, Lio took a seat of his own on the couch. He was quickly flanked by Meis and Gueira, staring daggers at the stranger. Aina situated herself on an armrest while Galo leaned against the back of the couch.

“As I stated before, my name is Luka Kostas. I take it you’re-”

“Lio Fotia,” the ex-leader finished. The man stared at him, light wrinkles around his eyes creasing just slightly deeper.

“Hmm, interesting.”

Lio’s face pinched, finding the vague comment incredibly off-putting.

“Anyway, the story here is that Mrs. Fotia was read the will of Mr. Fotia and learned that a large portion of assets would be frozen until you responded. She was not particularly pleased about it, and so hired me to try and execute a work-around.”

“What do you mean, a ‘work-around’?” 

“Well, the basics of it is that even if someone is willed something unconditionally on the writer’s behalf, there are plenty of circumstances in which, legally, a will could be disputed.”

“So, she hired you to dig around Boss and see if you could find anything for her to work with to cut him out?” Meis clarified with a glare.

“Basically, yes.”

The Burnish generals’ expression soured even more at the confirmation.

“So why exactly should we trust you?” Aina asked, also not bothering to hide her distaste.

“I have received word from Mrs. Fotia that she wishes now to call off my investigation and share details with you. I don’t have any loyalties, I was just doing my job.” The man shrugged. “This time, my job was a bit wasted, the investigation for naught, but she told me to bring the documents to you and while it’s not really in my job description, I get paid either way for my assistance.”

Lio shook his head, almost laughing humorlessly. “She would rather do all this instead of just talking to me, is that right? How very on-brand of her.” He looked up. “I’m rejecting the money and whatever else. Did she tell you that?”

“Yes, but you still need to read the terms before you can sign it away.” With that, he pulled a single piece of paper - a vanilla colored, professional looking piece of pressed parchment - out of his briefcase to hand to Lio. All at once, four bodies leaned in before simultaneously remembering their manners and leaning away, pretending not to have tried to peek. Galo did not look long enough to see anything in detail, but he did catch a glimpse of a burnt gold insignia and a very large set of numbers and percentages. 

Suddenly, Lio is laughing. Sharp laughs stabbing out of him like knives. It was the sound of something maniacal, like the barking of a dog that you weren’t too sure was meant as a greeting or a warning.

“Of _course_ he would do this! Of _fucking_ course!” Even more laughter had everyone throwing their etiquette out the window to scramble for the paper and Lio let them take it without issue. Galo, not known for his tact to begin with, was the first to act and thus the first to snag the paper.

In a font too rich for Galo to recognize, highlighted manually by a steady hand read the words at the tail end of a long sentence of an even longer paragraph: “...on the condition that a biological heir is produced from a marital union.”

“Oh,” was all Galo could manage. The paper was next grabbed by Meis. Aina, who had read that statement over Galo’s shoulder, directed her question to the investigator.

“So, what? Does this mean that Lio has to get married and have a kid before he’d get anything?”

“That’s what I take it to mean,” he answered. “I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t say for sure, but I would think that it’s written so vaguely there’s a lot of room for ‘interpretation.’ You could fight against it and-”

“No,” Lio said sharply, recovering easily from his fit. “I don’t want anything to do with it. Give me whatever papers you have and need and I’ll sign it.”

“Sure, but I do have something else I want to discuss with you.”

“What is it now?” Lio asked, seemingly bored. “I’m very busy, you know. I’d rather get this over with as soon as possible so that I can focus on other things.”

Kotas nodded, understanding without a hint of offense taken. “As I said before, I don’t have loyalties. People ask me to do a job, I do it. Simple. However, working with your mother has been…” he stopped, pursing his lips. “An experience.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Yes, well.” The man coughed, clearing his throat. “In any case, you made yourself quite hard to track once you left England. For a while there I-”

“Difficult to track?!” Guiera piped up, somehow insulted. “Boss’ face has been on every screen worldwide for like two years! Everyone knows he lives in this city, even before all this bitching! Buddy, you’re a really shitty detective if you can’t find someone like that!”

The older man nodded carefully, waiting till he was sure that the other was finished. “To clarify, this was before the ‘bitching,’” he said casually. “And I wasn’t looking for him specifically. It was not a matter of where he was, but rather where he’s been, and unfortunately for me there wasn’t much of a paper trail to go by, initially; especially in the nature of anything particularly damning. Anything on the Burnish side was debatable to bring up with everything being legally forgiven and all.

“Now, I understand the frustration at a lack of results, especially in my line of work. A lot of people who hire me are bordering on the line of desperate and so tensions are high. However, your mother was the type to find anything short of absolute success unacceptable.”

“See, in my experience,” Lio flouted. “I’d believe it’s more accurate to say that she has no tolerance for incompetence.”

“You have her wit,” the man said dryly. “Like I said, you didn’t leave much of a paper trail, as far as the normal person goes, but what little I did find had me… shall we say, interested?”

“Shall we say: get to the point already?” Gueria scowled.

The man frowned. “The point is that I was always a man for mystery and but even more so for a mystery solved, so I wanted to see the loose ends wrapped up.” He sorted through the papers in his briefcase, neatly paging through them until he found the ones he wanted. “This is the life insurance paperwork that shows you are the beneficiary and you are owed a payout.”

He held the set of papers out for Lio, but he simply stared back at him blankly, with everyone else following a similar suit. “Excuse me?”

The papers bowed in his grasp, unaccepted. He pulled his arm back as he explained, “Mr. Ellias Donatus did not have a will, but he did have life insurance policies. One on himself and one on you, but-” he looked at Lio seriously then. “See, in my experience, this number is suspiciously large to cover on someone young and healthy, especially on a complete dependent with no debts. It is my professional opinion that the only reason he took out a policy so large on himself was to make it less suspicious, the fact that he was taking one so large on you.”

A few beats of silence and four pairs of eyes turned to Lio, awaiting his reaction.

“...How large is ‘suspiciously large.’” Galo grew worried with how stilted Lio sounded. 

“Five hundred thousand dollars.” 

Gueira balked. The numbers on the other paper were much more by leagues, but this was an amount Lio actually stood a chance at getting.

“You also are entitled to receive all of his savings and any remaining assets.”

Lio’s brow furrowed, but he made no further movement, frozen to the seat. “But… he’s been gone for five years… Surely Aleka would’ve claimed it by now-” 

“It’s actually, interestingly enough, much the same situation with that. Like what I said before, the assets have been frozen until the situation could be organized. You were a suspect in his murder, but never charged. You were missing, but due to you being a suspect, never declared dead. Now-” he jostled the papers in his hand to redrawn focus. “Reading through the policy, the company has a plan for these types of occurrences baked into the fine print. There’s a timer. Basically, after so long without development, the money can be dispersed to the next in line. The time this policy had was just about to run out and would’ve been claimed by the young lady in question, had the Second World Burn not occurred and with it, your very public reemergence.” Mr. Kostas leaned back in his chair, nodding matter-of-factly. “It’s my professional observation - a theory, if you will - that Ms. Donatus has been trying to get this money for a long time and is quite livid over the fact that you decided to show up again just as she was about to have it. Now, she’s trying the exact same tactic the lovely Mrs. Fotia was. Only instead of hiring someone like me to find issues to get you kicked off the policy, she has decided to create them.”

“So, this whole thing is a scheme to get money?” Aina said, astonished. “To drudge up a cold case to get Lio kicked out of a will?” 

Galo could see Lio’s hands start to tremble as he spoke, one balled into a fist on his lap and the other fidgeting around his earring. Despite this, his voice was steady and stone-like. “But she’s his next of kin. Everything should go to her anyways. You said he didn’t have a will.”

“Well, you are named the direct beneficiary in the life insurance,” Kostas explained, gruff voice contrasting the patient way he did so. “As for his assets, it does go to the next of kin unless specified otherwise, but that would still be you. Spouses override pretty much every connection, including siblings.”

Lio stiffened, as did Galo. The others at first seemed not to notice, the two generals lost in their fuming as Aina was in her thoughts. “We’re not married.”

Kostas looked up at that. “What?”

“We’re not married,” Lio repeated, back ramrod straight. He stared ahead evenly but it was a focus drawn as an anchor; trying to stay in the moment instead of drifting away. Everyone had warily taken note of the tension now. “I was just his boyfriend. We were living together. But we were never married.”

With a flick of his wrist, the older man had the paper in his hands stand at attention. He squinted down at it, confused. “Lio Donatus?” he read out.

“That’s _not_ my name.” Lio immediately snapped back with far more venom than necessary. 

“Boss,” Meis mumbled, placing a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising in his seat any further.

“That’s your name on the insurance policy,” the man said, unbothered. He handed the set of papers to Lio, who accepted this time. He (and the other eyes hovering around him) did not have to look hard for the printed name listed.

_“Lio Donatus. Relationship: Spouse.”_

With a deep breath, Lio spoke again. “It’s a mistake,” he said, much calmer now. “He made a mistake- or the insurance writer did. That’s not my name and we were never married.”

“Does that mean Lio can’t get the money?” Gueira piped up.

“ _Guiera,_ ” Meis hissed lowly. “Now is hardly the time.”

“That’s a half a mil! I’d say any time is the time for that much cash!” Turning to Lio, he pointed out, “Think how much good that can do for the refugees! It’s been years and the government is still pulling its bureaucrat bullshit - this way we don’t have to wait for funding just for them to nickel-and-dime us at every turn! And ‘cause it’s charity it’s tax deductible!”

 _‘He sure has Lio’s number,’_ Galo thought and for a moment it looked like Lio was considering it before he shook his head.

“It’s not my legal name,” he told him. “I don’t think I can claim it.”

“Well, it’s your legal name on your Change of Name form,” Mr. Kostas said.

Lio’s head snapped to the man, who held up another sheet of paper. “ _What_.”

He raised yet another sheet in his other hand. “And that was included in your application for your marriage certificate.”

Lio snatched the papers, on his feet and reading through them at a fervent pace. Aina leaned forward, but kept more distance than the other three men, who hurried to hover around him. Once on their feet however no one knew quite what to do from there until, eventually, Lio’s shoulders slumped and he looked up, dismayed.

“I didn’t sign these,” he said, all but a whisper. “I didn’t sign any of these.”

Mr. Kostas sat unmoved on his seat, unreactive. “Is that your signature?”

Lio nodded. “But I didn’t sign them. I- At least, I don’t _remember_ signing them.”

The older man nodded slowly, pursing his lips, his beard stubble tugged with the action. Steadily, he reached for his briefcase once more and turned through even more pages. Once he found the set he was looking for, he offered it out. “Did you sign these?”

“What is it?” he asked, taking the file.

“Your citizenship paperwork.”

The folder dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Lio was stuatesque, hands still held up in front of him, still weakly awaiting for their second chance to take the item they were handed. “I- I wouldn’t. I- I didn’t know if I wanted to _do_ that. I didn’t do anything like that.” Meis stooped to retrieve the papers while Gueira read over the mariage application, watching Lio worriedly. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Galo tried to soothe. “Let’s just sit back down, okay?” When Lio nodded ridgely and allowed himself to be led back to the couch without a single sound of complaint, Galo’s concern grew ten-fold. “Don’t you have to take a test or something for that?” he asked the investigator. “It’s not like that could be faked, and there’s no way to do that without knowing-”

“What are you, eighty?” Gueira retorted callously. “It hasn’t been that way since before the First Burn!”

“I think now is a great time for that de-stress tea I got you,” Aina said gently, clasping her hands together nervously. “How about that? Tea would be nice; right, Lio?”

He looked up at her, staring as if he hadn’t understood a word she said, before directing his gaze at the still standing Meis, shuffling through papers. “Is it real?”

Meis looked back between him and the file. He said nothing, but the expression of displeasure he wore said enough. 

Lio slumped further down, the knowledge dealing yet another blow to him. “When’s it dated?”

“December. Seven years ago,” he told him. “You would’ve been eighteen.”

“But… But I just _got_ here then- he didn’t even- I said- I _told_ him-!”

“Look, obviously this has got you all worked up,” Mr. Kostas interrupted. “I’ll come back at another time to help out when you recover-”

“I don’t need to recover.” Lio was suddenly sitting straight again, like a marionette being yanked to life. His expression cleared back to neutral, gaining control of himself and his voice quickly. “This is obviously all fake. To what motivation would anyone even _have_ to do all this-”

Raising his voice just slightly, Mr. Kostas steamrolled over the young man’s words. “I just have one more question, if you don’t mind! Then I’ll be on my way.” He met Lio’s eye, making sure that he had his attention. Throughout it all the investigator had remained largely unflapped at the revelations, but in his eye was a growing gleam of something. It was a sudden beam of light illuminating a dark corner, previously unnoticed. 

He had thought he had it all figured out, but even for him the puzzle fit together too neatly. There were no missing pieces, but the extra jigsaws were now in play and he _had_ to know. “Were you - at any point of your life - claiming any disability benefits?”

“I- What?”

“Were you ever on Disability while you were living in Detroit?”

Lio exhaled; half a harsh scoff of annoyance, half a sad sigh of frustration. “I don’t even know what that is.”

The man nodded, pulling up yet another stack of papers from his case. On it were dozens of scanned and photocopied paperwork. For a moment, a small smile danced across the man’s face. It was almost giddy-like, as if he were discovering treasure. “Now that’s _very_ interesting indeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gueira: bro I bet you owe so much in taxes bro


	8. Axiomatic

The next few days went by in a whirl. Kostas had a fair amount of papers, previously viewed as mundane and useless to his investigation, to unload and each one was another stroke of a brush, adding more and more detail to the painting. 

On paper, Lio Fotia came to Detroit and immediately disappeared until he reappeared several months later to get married and change his name. From that point on, Lio Donatus lived life without much ornament. He became a certified citizen and had his own savings account. He had a medical history from a series of specialists. It took Kostas only a few hours of calls and research in Galo’s terrible, still-burnt living room to determine that they all were dead-ends and fakes. 

This was time no one else had taken apparently, as Lio Donatus was allowed disability benefits due to the fact that his supposed severe mental instability did not allow him to properly work and care for himself. Because of this, Ellias Donatus applied and was granted power of attorney over his husband and was listed to have access to every account he had and major medical decision he would make. 

Though it was hardly needed, as Lio Donatus seemed to make plenty of decisions on his own. He deposited all the money he ever received into a high-interest savings account. He withdrew from it on occasion to transfer minimal amounts to his husband and to pay his due tariffs. 

“Well, at least he paid your taxes for you,” Gueira commented the first night they spent pouring over the papers that flooded Galo’s floor, trying to lighten the heavy mood. 

“Wow,” Lio replied back humorlessly. “How considerate of him.” When Kostas brought them record of a long history of Lio Donatus’ prescriptions to strong doses of Quetiapine that Lio Fotia had never seen nor taken before in his life, not even his generals could rouse him from his dead silent pondering.

Lio Donatus also made several investments with his money. Some safe, some risky, but Lio Donatus was apparently well versed in stocks. Even with the steady transfer to his husband’s account, the amount in there was impressive enough that after years of accumulation in combination with Ellias’ savings, Lio Fotia found himself in possible possession of another five hundred thousand dollars. 

Within a span of two years, Lio Fotia was erased from the Earth to be replaced by Lio Donatus who made a small, seemingly never-spent fortune from a rapid number of expertly executed financial moves before disappearing off the face of the documented world. By this time, the art forgery was beautifully done and Galo supposed he couldn’t blame the experts who looked only from a distance at it and thought it was real for so long.

One thing Galo learned about the Burnish is that the Promare did not discriminate in choosing their hosts. People from all walks of life found themselves burning without cause, so Galo really shouldn’t have been all that surprised to learn that Lio and his generals had a grateful lawyer among their ranks who was more than happy to offer her expertise and service pro bono. 

“So I had my handwriting guy take a look at these,” Galo heard her say after he returned from his shift. “Normally, when a signature is faked, we can see short, choppy strokes as opposed to a few continuous, steady strokes. This is the tell-tale sign that someone is attempting to copy a way of writing they are unfamiliar with.” She paused to give a small smile and wave to the fire fighter. “Thanks again for letting us set up camp here, Mr. Thymos.”

He laughed jovially. “Don’t worry about it. Sorry I didn’t have a table already here.”

“Nonsense,” Lio said, patting the plastic folding table they gathered around. “You dragged this thing up here. Besides, I think Meis and Gueira should be more sorry about the table situation than you.”

“Like we all could’ve gathered ‘round a coffee table anyways,” Gueira muttered, leaning back in his folding chair. “You steal this set-up from a beer pong tournament or what?”

“Be nice,” Lio scolded.

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt…” Galo started before Meis cut him off.

“If we didn’t want you to interrupt we wouldn’t be taking up seventy percent of your place.”

“You’re welcome to join us, Galo,” Lio told him. Galo took the invitation, but less because he was wanting to contribute to the sleuthing (though he won’t deny that he did want to be kept in the loop), and more because he wanted to keep an eye on Lio. He had hardly shown any emotion since the investigator’s first visit, in any direction. Galo very strongly suspected that he was forcing his turmoil aside in favor of cold productivity, creating more pressure within himself than in a shaken can of soda left in a freezer. 

It was hard to say though. Lio sadly had kept him at an arm’s length and talked to him like a mere trusted acquaintance at this point.

“Anyways,” the attorney continued. “As I was saying, normally we can tell right away when a signature is faked, but everything here looks like natural strokes.” Sensing an objection, she raised a finger and went on. “However, every time anyone does their own signature there are variances each and every time. No one can produce an exact duplicate of their own signature without a great deal of effort. With that said-” she tapped the stack of papers on the table before her with all five fingers. “All of your signatures are practically clones with one another. Right down to their placement and position on the dotted lines. That means that either a machine did this or someone with enough foresight, planning, and intermediate skills in forgery did.” 

“So that means that Boss’ signature is definitely faked?” Gueira asked.

“It means that we have enough evidence here to make that claim. In addition, we took a look at everyone else’s names as well. Save for the various notaries, whom we do not have a reference for, we can also confidently assert that Lio’s signature is the only one here that is illegitimate.”

“Including Aleka’s?” Lio quired, his tone a soft lull. The woman picked up on it and offered him a sympathetic look.

“That does appear to be the case.”

“She’s all over these papers as a witness,” Meis reiterated, glaring down at the table. “If they are real, that means she was aware of everything.”

“Falsifying federal documents is a serious crime.”

“We could probably go after her,” Gueira pointed out, almost excitedly. “How the turn tables… Right, Boss?”

“It’s ‘how the tables have turned,’” Lio replied blandly. 

“I was making a joke-?”

“I don’t know if I want to do that. What if she didn’t know?”

The former generals squinted at him, puzzled. “What?”

“Boss, there is no way she didn’t know,” Meis tries to reason.

Lio folded his arms, almost pouting. “There’s not ‘no way,’ I can think of a dozen ways she could’ve been mislead.”

“That’s up to her to prove that.” Meis turned to the lawyer across the table. “Right?”

She nodded once. “That’s correct.”

“You can’t seriously be trying to defend her!” Gueira argued. “Are we talking about the same lady here? Is there a different Aleka that _hasn’t_ been a complete bitch to you these past couple weeks?”

Lio’s arms tightened, but he said nothing. He stared down hard at the papers before them, as if he were awaiting for them to speak up for themselves. 

“Let’s go for a ride,” Galo piped up suddenly. They all looked up at him, as if he just joyfully mentioned that he just ate something toxic like a golden retriever with no self-control.

“What?”

“Let’s go for a ride, Lio.”

The other man blinked. “Right now?”

“Yeah, right now!” Galo offered out his hand to help Lio out of his chair. “You need a break! Just for a bit.”

“O-Okay…?” Lio answered, seemingly too baffled to protest properly. 

“Great! I’m going to borrow him for a bit then,” he told the rest of the company. “Feel free to stay here while we’re out!”

Gueira made several insulted sounds of objection, but they were both out the door before he could get anything coherent out.

\---

“This is where we fell,” Lio observed, looking out over the partially frozen lake. 

“Yep!” came Galo’s cheerful reply besides him. “I come here to cool down sometimes.”

Lio shuddered against the cold. “I can see why.” He had no choice but to press in close to Galo on the motorcycle ride over here and he found himself already missing the warmth. He was reluctant at first, which Galo expected, but he very quickly found himself relaxing against his back, which took Galo by surprise. He debated riding right past his intended stop to prolong the blissful contact.

Lio was startled by the sudden heavy presence of a coat thrown over his shoulders.

“You need it more than me,” Galo explained with a smile, sliding out onto the ice. “Come on out! It’s safe! I dug five meters down once and it was all ice.”

“Oh? Was that before or after we melted a giant crater in it?” Lio nodded to the water-logged hole a little more than a stone’s throw away. 

Galo gave him a sheepish look as he turned to slide back closer to land. “Before… But I’m sure it’s still safe now!” Once his toes hit the edge, he stretched out his hand to Lio. “You know you can trust me, right? There’s nothing to be worried about.”

Lio took in the sight before him. A strong hand offered out to him by warm arms and broad shoulders. Galo no longer had to wear his protective sleeve and his scars had faded a bit, but they still stood out as a dark spiral against his skin. Lio thought they looked beautiful, but Lio thought a lot of things about Galo were beautiful. His big smiles, his soothing laugh, even his wild, untamable hair was charming in a way. 

Ellias was blonde and well-groomed. He was attractive in a disarming way, like the symmetrical faces used in adverts, carefully touched up and lighted in a way to be appealing to a wide audience. Galo, Lio was fairly certain, would be attractive to a large audience as well, but for an entirely different, probably non-family friendly reason. But there _were_ things that the two had in common; Lio won’t deny he had noticed them.

“Ellias had blue eyes too,” he found himself saying.

Galo started. “Y-Yeah?”

“Yeah, but they were deep and dark. Like the ocean. When I looked into them, I felt like they could swallow me whole.”

Galo let his hand fall back to his side, suddenly heavy. “But not mine?”

Lio shook his head. “Yours are light and… bright. Like the sky. I can see myself in them.”

“Well, that’s good, cause I like lookin’ at’cha!” Upon hearing what he said outloud, Galo attempted to explain. “So, if, like- If _I_ like looking at you, I mean, you should also like looking at you- so if you can, see yourself, I mean, uh…”

Lio chuckled. “I get the sentiment, thank you.” 

“Yeah- I, uh, good. Sorry, I’m not so good with words.”

“Neither am I,” Lio said with a soft smile.

“Okay, I call bullshit on that,” Galo chastised. “Yesterday you used a word that had an ‘x’ in it. I know like three words that have an ‘x’ in it and none of them were what you said.”

“Oh, come off it, you know more than three!”

“I can’t think of more than three off the top of my head! X-ray, extra, and xylophone!” 

“Expected, expedited, apex, axel…!”

“See!” Galo exclaimed, pointing at the other. “And none of those were even the word you said! Way better at words than me!”

“Being well-spoken does not mean I’m…” For a moment, Lio’s lips pressed tight, struggling to get his thoughts out as if to prove his very point. “That I’m any good at… _expressing_ myself… Not like you are. You’re so honest-”

“You are too!”

“No, I’m… blunt.” Lio laughed, but it sounded empty. “You’re honest and open, and I don’t know how to… be that.”

Galo rubbed his neck, unsure of what to say. “Well… I don’t know how to be that either that’s just… how I am.”

“I know,” Lio said sadly, almost defeated. “I guess this is just how I am. How I always will be.”

“No! I mean…” Galo trailed off. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It just means we’re different, I guess.”

With another melancholy smile, Lio sunk down to the ground to sit. Galo frowned at that. It didn’t seem like his words had any of the encouraging effect he was going for. 

“How about this?” he began again, squatting down to eye level. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

Lio stared back at him, apprehensive. “Right now?”

“Yep! Right now. Just do it! Don’t even think about it.” Then, with a wide swing of his arms, he gestured to Lio, as if presenting him on stage. “Go!”

“I feel stupid.”

Galo was dismayed at the confession. “What? No! No, Lio, you’re not-”

“You can’t ask me to tell you how I’m feeling and then tell me I’m wrong.”

The firefighter floundered. “I’m- I’m not- I wasn’t-” he forced his mouth shut, brows knitting together furiously with the effort, before he allowed himself one deep inhale. “You’re right,” he said. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” When Lio’s body unfolded from itself just slightly, he knew he was on the right track. “Why do you feel stupid?”

Lio at first met the other’s eye, but found himself unable to speak while doing so. Saying these things out loud seemed like a betrayal to the man, somehow. It really shouldn’t, as they weren’t even _in_ a relationship. Lio pointing that out to himself did nothing, however. He knew it was more complicated than that.

So, he looked to the sky, a close match to Galo’s eyes. “Because I thought he loved me. I thought I loved him. But this was… all planned. From the beginning, from the looks of it. I thought something had changed, but nothing changed. I was always nothing but a… I don’t even know what. A job?” He ran his fingers over his earring absentmindedly. “It was all fake.”

Galo wished he could say that it wasn’t true. That Lio was loved because he so deserved to be, but he knew he would see right through it.

“I… I really… admired Kray.”

Lio’s eyes slowly crawled back to Galo’s, not at all pleased with the name being brought up while he was being so vulnerable, but at least Galo had his attention.

“I thought he was the greatest, that he saved me. I really looked up to him and everything I did was to try and gain his approval. I wanted to amount to something, so that way it’d feel like saving me was worth it.” Galo rested his cheek on his fist then, his forlorn expression becoming almost comically squished. “But when you said those things after we talked - really talked - for the first time, I believed you. Or, at least, I believed you enough to doubt what I thought. I don’t know if I always had some sort of deep suspicion, but I’d like to think that the way you spoke so earnestly to me was what really changed my mind. You were ‘honest and open’ then, do you remember?”

“I do,” Lio admitted. 

Galo smiled. “What I’m trying to say is that I know what it’s like to put all your faith in someone and have it be… all wrong. I know how painful it is. So, even though everyone else - myself included - only sees the bad things about this guy, I know you saw the good. And I know how hard it is to forget that good, even if it was all a lie.”

“Yes, but…” Lio paused for a few moments. Only the sound of nature’s peace was heard then. “Aina told me how you got rid of everything you had of Foresight. Every picture, every magazine, every award… she told me you even got rid of all the furniture that reminded you of any _events_ associated with him.”

“Yeah, I was kinda operating under the assumption that you’d be rooming with me and I didn’t want you to feel unwelcome,” Galo explained bashfully. “It wasn’t until after you shot me down a couple times that Aina made me realize how insane it was thinking that.”

Lio’s eyebrows dipped, concern. “Why was it insane?”

“Because we had only just met!” Then, as a hopeful add on, “Did _you_ want to move in together?”

Lio side-stepped the question with a laugh. “You’re an idiot.”

Galo took the hint. “The number one firefighting idiot!” he bellowed, startling a resting flock of birds to take to the air. The sound of Lio’s laughter followed them into the clouds.

When the echos faded, it was Lio who broke the silence. “But you just threw it all out? Just like that?” Realizing how he sounded, he attempted to correct himself. “I’m not saying that I’m doubting that it was _hard,_ for you. The opposite, rather. Was it really so… easy? To be so strong? Strong enough to do all that?”

“To let go?” Galo clarified.

Lio’s shoulders relaxed substantially. “Yes,” he breathed out. “To let go.”

Galo nodded, standing up only long enough to fall heavily down next to the other man. “It wasn’t easy,” he said once he was settled. “But, to be honest, it wasn’t hard. ‘Cause I was doing it for you, and I cared about you more than I cared about Kray. My mind was already all made up about that.”

Lio looked down, as if he were ashamed. “But you hardly knew me. You knew him your whole life and I-”

“It didn’t matter. Because I could see - I _can_ see! - right away, how special you are to me. And nothing Kray did could compare to that.” Galo laid a hand on Lio’s shoulder, twisting his body to be as face-to-face as he could be. If nothing else, he needed Lio to understand this. “I meant what I said, Lio. I know it’s dumb and rushed, but I really do love you. Honestly and truly, and whatever you need you just tell me and I will do whatever I can to help you! Okay?”

Lio stared back at him, looking terribly conflicted. “Galo-”

“And you don’t have to tell me how you feel now,” he interjected quickly. “I know that now is not a good time to be unloading all of this on you and I’m sorry-”

“You don’t need to apologise, Galo,” Lio respired. He sounded spent, but the way he looked out into the mountainous shadows casting onto the lake was pensive. 

It wasn’t like Lio felt like he was underwater all the time, but it felt to him like the longer he lived, the thinner the ice he walked on. With every new day Lio felt like he was one step closer to everything breaking underneath him, where the weight of all that he carried would mercilessly drag him down into cold, dark waters. He knew that the only way for him to survive if his fragile footing fell out from under him was to swim for his life, but he couldn’t do that while also desperately clinging to everything weighing him down. He had already told himself that he would try to stop drowning.

The memories and feelings he had were irreplaceable, Lio thought. If he were to leave them behind, he wasn’t sure if he could remember them in the same light as before. It would likely be a vision cloaked in a smog of regret if Lio were to accept that just about every moment of happiness he had was either soaked in deceit or of a time no longer obtainable. Lio would no longer be able to look back at any part of his past foundly nor would he ever be able to burn brighter than a star, and all of that seems so grossly unfair.

But hearing Galo speak of his importance in his life had him feeling so… small. No, that wasn’t quite right. Not ‘small,’ but rather ‘new.’ This wouldn’t be the first time Lio would have to hit the ground running in regards to reinventing himself, but he couldn’t help but feel exhausted at the idea of doing it yet again, especially to live up to Galo’s expectations. 

Still, wouldn’t it be worth it? To wear himself down in exchange for Galo? His smile, his laugh, how he held Lio as if he was afraid he would dissipate like dust and ash if he didn’t keep a tight enough grip. Would he even want to hold him like that again? After all he knew? He said that he loved him but could Lio trust that he would?

He recalled the time he turned Galo’s apron pink, and how instead of being angry he laughed hysterically. He remembered all the times Galo drove Lio to the hospital to visit Meis and Gueira while they recovered from the Parnassus and waited patiently in the halls for however long Lio took. He remembered the first time someone had thrown a brick at his head. They were just walking. Galo caught it so easily and looked absolutely murderous. Instead of confronting the man, he pulled Lio tighter to him and ushered him away, asking later if he was alright with a worry he had only heard from his closest friends and teammates. He remembered how fiercely their souls burned as one the day they saved everyone.

Only from Galo could he tolerate someone saying ridiculous things like “I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid!” or “If anyone gives ya heat, I'll put them out!” or even just Lio’s name spoken in that hopeful tone of his. With Galo, things were a familiar kind of different, and it made him happy.

He closed his eyes and turned up his nose, as if dismissing the other man. At first, Galo was worried that he had offended him somehow and started to backtrack, but then a burning gaze fell onto him, and he could see that Lio had made a very important decision within himself. 

“Help me up,” he ordered and Galo was on his feet the very next second. Lio offered up his hand but Galo went further and gripped around his forearm. Once Lio returned the favor, he hauled himself up. He strode onto the ice like a model to a catwalk, but Galo did not have a chance to be impressed before Lio’s legs started flailing about as if they were suddenly and violently rebelling. Galo shuffled as quickly as he could to his side and once he was stable, Lio simply looked at him as if nothing had ever occurred (save for how out of breath and embarrassed he looked). 

“Well? Are you going to hold my hand or not?”

“Do you want me to hold your hand because you think you’re going to fall again?” 

“I thought you said you loved me,” Lio pointed out hautiedly. “Do you not want to hold hands with someone you love?”

Galo couldn’t really argue with that. Once his hand was firmly grasped in Galo’s own and after Lio leaned heavily up against him for stability (Galo tried to give the other more space, but it was difficult when he clung to his arm like a vice), Lio began to lead the two of them closer to the large melted pond within the frozen lake. 

At the halfway point, Lio allowed the two of them to slide to a stop. They weren’t close enough to look into the water’s depths to the submerged lab below, but Lio stared out into the distant mountains as if he was staring down at the edge anyways. 

Galo nudged him. “Lio? Are you alright?”

Lio closed his eyes and reached for his earring.”Me? I’m fine now.” 

“Yeah?” Galo watched as it was undone and held in the palm of Lio’s hand. “You know, when I first saw that on you I thought it was a Burnish construct. I was kinda surprised to see that it stuck around when the Promare left.”

Lio smiled down at the small tricket. “Is that so? It does look like that. I’d like to say that’s why I kept it.” Slowly, as if the jewelry were suddenly fragile, Lio’s fingers curled closed around it. “Ellias got it for me.”

“...Oh.’

“Yeah,” Lio agreed. “It was something to… I don’t know, represent my rebellion? It made sense when I was eighteen. I think I always wanted to be a scene kid or something and I just moved to the States so I was still on that high. Getting it done was a spur of the moment thing, but it’s one of my favorite memories.” Then Lio took a jagged breath in. “Was. Was one of my favorite memories.” Looking up at Galo’s thoughtful expression, he continued. “Plus, as you said, it looks like a Burnish construct; like my armour or Detroit. It was more of a coincidence, sure, but it did remind me of being Burnish too.

“You know, right before things changed with Ellias, I remember talking with him about getting citizenship. I wanted it to be a discussion, I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to do it, but I thought it’d be easier to get a job with it. 

“He seemed a little surprised, but it was hardly anything to make note of. He didn’t seem to understand why I would want to do that. I told him I was grateful for everything he’s done for me and I wanted to help out. I felt lazy and useless. He kept insisting that I didn’t need to worry about things like that. He was more than happy to take care of me and was just happy to spend time together. He kept steering the topic away until we were talking about something else.

“At the time… He wasn’t angry or annoyed by it at all, so I just thought he didn’t want me to stress or feel guilty about freeloading or whatever. But knowing everything now…”

“He was afraid you’d find out,” Galo finished.

Lio nodded. “I think he thought with how I was living my life before, I’d be too sheltered and spoiled to even think about doing things on my own. I think he honestly thought he’d just take care of me like a housepet forever and I’d be fine with it. I don’t think he expected-” A sudden laugh took over Lio, short and choppy. “I guess he really didn’t know me at all.”

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Galo agreed. “I can’t imagine you in that role even if I tried. You’re way too bossy.”

Lio laughed, genuinely this time. Once it faded out of him, he went on. “I guess once he realised how I really was like, he just…” The man shrugged. “...changed tactics, I guess. It makes sense now that I think of it, but it was such a mundane, nothing event that I didn’t even pay it any mind.” He paused for a moment, tone growing much softer. “But you, Galo, when I told you how I needed to do things on my own, you didn’t argue, you didn’t try to change my mind. You wanted to help.” He gave the taller man a smile, small but brimming with gratitude. “I’m glad.”

All at once, Lio’s attention shifted to the flooded crater. Letting go of Galo’s hand, he reeled back with his whole body and pitched the earring into the waters. The item was so small that the tiny splash was completely inaudible. Lio was surprised, as it felt far heavier in his possession than gravity believed it to be, but he hardly had time to dwell on it with Galo kicking up the stammering fuss that he was. 

“You-! You just-! You just??? Threw it??? You just said though-!?”

“I’m tired of missing how things used to be,” Lio told him resolutely. “It won’t change how anything is now. It’s just holding me back. I can’t possibly expect myself to be able to watch where I’m going if I keep looking behind me.” He shook his head, tone contrite, slowly meeting Galo’s eye again. “I want to look forward without distraction. I want to be someone you can be happy with.”

Galo’s stammering slowed and at first he looked pleased - almost elated at the declaration. It came to an abrupt halt at the last comment, and Galo suddenly looked reflective. “Ah, I get it now.”

Lio fixed him with a quizzical look.

“Aina kept saying something to me, but I didn’t really understand what she was getting at,” he explained. “Or how it was a bad thing.”

“What did she say?”

“She said… she kept saying that I was idolizing you too much ‘cause I think you’re so amazing. And I do!” He exclaimed the last part, gesturing enthusiastically. “I thought it just now when you said that stuff: ‘Wow, Lio is so amazing. He sounds so cool and he just threw away that thing like it was nothing. He always knows just what to say and he’s so strong!’ 

“...But we were literally _just_ talking about how you were bad at talking about your feelings and you even asked me how to be ‘strong enough to let go,’ and my dumbass is standing here in this impactful moment just thinking how cool you are like a starstruck groupie?” He looked at Lio, expression morphing to something mildly upset. “I’m, like, a really bad listener.”

Lio arched one eyebrow up as high as it would go. “You are just now realising that?”

“Wha- Hey!” Galo sputtered indignantly. “How was I supposed to know! It’s not like anyone has told me!”

“Do you know that for certain or were you just not listening when they told you?” he asked coyly.

Galo puffed out his cheeks, pouting. “I am _trying_ to explain myself here.”

“Right, please continue.”

After a brief pause to sort out his thoughts, he went on. “Aina said I was putting you on a pedestal. That I was raising you up to an impossible standard. I didn’t get what she meant because I couldn’t see how that could be a bad thing, to think so highly of you, but what you just said- you want to be someone _I_ can be happy with? Lio, do you… do you think I’m not happy with you _now?_ ”

Lio clicked his tongue nonchalantly. This put a snag in his plan. “Ah, so you do know how to listen.”

“Don’t avoid the question, Lio…” It plucked at Lio’s heart painfully to hear the other man sound so crushed.

“I’m not avoiding it,” he tried to argue, shifting on his feet. “It was just poor wording on my part.”

“But I think this is what I mean, what Aina was trying to say. By putting you- by holding you so high up, it’s an unreachable thing not just for me, but for you too.” He added somberly: “I think I did the same thing with Kray. I put him on such a high pedestal that I just set myself up to witness a bigger fall. If I wasn't so blinded by the spotlight I put him in, maybe I would’ve seen what an interstellar asshole he really was.”

“...Maybe I was the same way,” Lio commented wistfully. “I was so sure that things were perfect that… well…” He gave a very heavy shrug. “Looks like we’re both pretty awful at this.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel like you weren’t worthy, Lio,” Galo spoke gently. “I thought maybe I was just putting myself down, I didn’t realize-”

Lio tried to interrupt. “No, Galo, it’s mostly me and my own-”

“-I’m talking about that night too.” Lio fell silent then. “When we fought. I didn’t mean to make you think that I don’t-... That I didn’t want-”

“I don’t want to talk about that, right now.” Lio said collectedly. “That’s a whole separate issue. Besides, I don’t think you’re really ready to talk about it either, anyways.”

Galo’s brow furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Today is the first time you reached out to me for days,” he said bitterly. “And I mean physically reached out. Even when I leaned against you just then, you tensed up and stuck your arm out away from you- like I was an annoying, sticky child clinging to you.”

Galo felt his face grow hot, frustration and shame flooding him. “That’s not why I did that-”

“I _know_ why you did that, but I just don’t _get it!_ ” Lio seethed. “You say you love me but then you act like you don’t want to be alone with me! You offer out your hand, but when I offer to take it you suddenly have a million reasons to be suspicious of it! You say you love me - _again_ \- yet you keep me at a literal arm’s length like I shouldn’t trust you!”

“I thought you wanted space!” Galo countered loudly. “You’ve been acting distant ever since you moved in and you completely ghosted me before that - I thought I was giving you what you wanted!”

“Well, it’s _not_ what I wanted!” Lio spat, volume rising to the challenge. “You were wrong! Big surprise there! That’s not what I want at all!”

“What do you want then?!”

“ _I don’t know!!_ ” The shout bounced off the mountains, sounding just as sharp as a slap to the face. “I don’t… I don’t know what I want.”

Galo’s shoulders heaved, steadily slowing down as he regained his composure. Lio turned away till he could no longer see his face.

“See, this is why I didn’t want to talk about it yet.”

“You’re the one who kept talking about it,” Galo mumbled, still angry at the confrontation.

“I know. I just-” A deep sigh. Lio turned back to the melted lake, face and posture as eerily calm as the waters. ”Right now I just want to deal with Aleka. Make sure I find any and all of these papers and figure out what her involvement is in it all.” Then, as a quiet aside, Lio said “Sorry.”

It was barely there, but Galo did feel a bit less hurt with the apology. “Okay… Okay, yeah, I think we can do that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not like it’s saving the world or anything.” Galo gave him a cheeky grin. “How hard can it be?” After drawing out a little laugh from Lio at the gag, Galo asked if he had any sort of plan.

“Well, I guess I’m American after all, right?” he said. “I suppose I should start acting like it.”

\---

Lio sued the absolute shit out of Aleka. Or, at least, she had been informed by Lio’s now official lawyer that she was being taken to court, but Galo was pretty sure the end result would be hilariously devastating to the woman so he had no problems counting his chickens before they hatched this time. Lio was suing the absolute shit out of Aleka.

“This is likely why she was doing this protest route,” the attorney told them. “She knew at least one of these papers would probably be revealed if she tried to put you on trial and it would send everyone down the rabbit hole we’re currently in now.”

“Yes, but what exactly are you suing for?” Remi asked. They had gone to Burning Rescue to make use of Remi’s status as a notary to finish up the will paperwork for Lio’s mother. They were currently stuck there as Remi insisted on going through every single word twice over. Galo found it annoying, but Lio saw use in it, and decided to include him in their strategy meeting while he read. “For what reason? What law did she violate?”

“That’s the glory of this process, Mr. Puguna. You can sue anyone for any reason whatsoever, regardless if what they are doing is illegal or not. The only issue is making sure a judge doesn’t laugh you out of the courthouse.” She directed her next statement at Lio. “Which is why we have to be prepared for her to take any angle to get this dismissed or paint you as someone a judge would find unfavorable.”

“No problem,” Lio said cooly. “Law enforcement officials love me.”

“As they do all Burnish,” the woman replied with a nervous laugh. “Which is why we have to have you be as sympathetic a character as possible. I don’t doubt she will bring up this Lio-Fotia-is-a-murderer subject, so we will have to contend it.”

“And how do we do that?”

“Self-defense is our best bet. For that we would have to provide some sort of proof that he was abusing you.”

Lio leaned back in his chair, arm crossed. “I don’t think we can do that.”

“Isn’t all this stuff enough?” Galo asked, gesturing at the spread of papers before them. “All these fake signatures show that he was obviously doing something wrong!”

The lawyer grimaced. “Unfortunately, ‘you forged my signature so now I have to kill you’ isn't a storyline a lot of judges would find understandable.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you then,” Lio sighed. “It’s not like I have a written confession from him stored somewhere.”

“Didn’t you say you called the police on him once?” Galo offered. Remi looked up at that. “Don’t they keep record of that?”

“That was years ago, Galo.”

“Did you call the emergency line?” Lio looked back at Remi, his sudden question surprising him. 

“I did,” he confirmed. 

“They keep recordings of 911 calls and they are easily accessible to pretty much anyone. How far back they go and where they are stored depends on the city, but it’s worth a shot to look. Did the police show up?”

Lio nodded carefully. He wanted Remi’s intelligence and cooperation, but he didn’t think he’d be this interested in his case. “Two officers did, but they were hardly there for more than a couple of minutes and dismissed me from the start.”

“They would have likely still have been required to fill out a report. If they had bodycams that also could be helpful.”

“I’ll see what I can do in finding those,” the woman said, scribbling down notes.

“No, I can do it,” Remi replied, gaining everyone’s confused attention. “I’ll have to talk to the Captain, but we have - or, rather, _had_ , I suppose - a Burning Rescue team over in Detroit. Because we’re in emergency services we can get the information much easier and with less questions asked than a lawyer could.”

The ex-leader studied the lieutenant cautiously. He wasn’t sure that he liked that idea. 

Seeing the doubt play out across Lio’s face, Galo stepped in to defend him. “Remi is very thorough. He’s great at his job and totally trustworthy.” Lio’s gaze slid over to the other, but the skepticism remained. “He will absolutely get everything done without missing anything. I mean, look at him now!”

“What about me now?”

“Come on, do you read all the terms and conditions for every app you have too?”

“Are you saying that you just agree to whatever is put in front of you?”

“Wha- I was kidding before, but do you actually do that?”

“I suppose that’s fine,” Lio spoke up, relenting. “I can send you the approximate dates it happened. As long as you keep the information to yourself.”

Remi adjusted his glasses with a frown. “Actually, I think it’d be better if you were more public with these matters.”

“What?” Galo squawked, overlapping Lio’s sharp reply of “Absolutely not.”

“That’s the game that girl was playing. And she was winning. _Was_. Ever since you had your little blow-up and gave the world some background more and more people have been siding with you.”

Lio’s jaw clenched. He had nearly forgotten that he did that.

“That reminds me, there was someone who wanted to get in touch with you. Said she went to school with you.”

Lio’s eyes narrowed, seemingly unhappy with the news. “Who?”

“A girl name Clarissa Sighn?” When the other did not offer any indication that he knew the name, Remi went on. “She did say that if you didn’t believe that she knew you to say, ah, that one time you punched some kid in the nose? After he called you… I think she said ‘poofer’? I have the messages saved, so I can-”

“Oh, that’s right. I do remember that,” came Lio’s sudden clarity. It was followed, however, by an indifferent shrug. “Quite a few people saw that though, and even more heard of it. That doesn’t really narrow it down.”

Galo leaned over, as if they were suddenly gossiping in secret. “Wait, what happened?”

“Some wankstain I went to secondary with called me, essentially, a queer, and so I knocked some tolerance into him.”

“Ah.”

Remi cleared his throat. “She also said she tried to get you to join her book club in the library-”

Lio’s eyes flashed with recognition. “Oh! Rissa! That’s right, I do know her!” Then, he scowled. “It wasn’t a book club. Her and her friends only pretended to read so that she could hang out with each other after school and didn’t have to go to tutoring or whatever else.”

Remi started to say something else before his phone’s vibration interrupted him. 

“Do you want to talk to her?” Galo asked Lio as Remi inspected the notification. 

“Maybe. I don’t know what she could want from me though.”

“Not everybody is going to try to get something from you-”

 _“Hey, I’m Marco Silas.”_ Remi’s phone announced. Lio stiffened. _“It’s Wednesday, April thirteenth twenty-sixteen and, uhh..”_

“What is that?” the lawyer asked, already up and rounding the table to see what was playing on Remi’s phone. Galo tried to lean over to get a look.

“I know that voice.” Lio had whispered it so lowly that Galo almost didn’t catch it.

_“I haven’t seen my neighbor in, like, a real long time. My grandma got kinda close with him- he moved in with an old neighbor we had, or he came back with him, I don’t know. But my gran is worried and I kinda heard some shit so. I’m checking it out.”_

“Remi, what is that?” Galo asked, tone serious. He didn’t like how Lio had that faraway look again.

In response, Remi set the phone down in the middle of the table. On it, a video was playing, and Galo could see that someone was holding a phone up to a window, peeking out from some pink curtains at a townhome across the street.

“That’s the house,” Lio said softly. 

“Ellias’ house?” the woman queried, to which Lio nodded stiffly.

“What is this?”

“Lucia sent it to me.” Remi answered. “Someone tweeted it out just now. It was in response to a thread about your freak out.”

_“His car’s not there. I’m gonna head over.”_

\---

Marco shoved the phone in his back pocket, but he kept it rolling. As he went to his front door, the camera briefly caught view of a younger boy sitting on a couch, watching TV.

“Hey, I’m going ‘cross the street for a bit. I’ll be right back, so don’t move, okay?” The sound of the door opening was heard before he added, “don’t burn the house down, alright?”

A light giggle came from the boy before Marco stepped outside. When he turned to lock the door, the townhome was once again in view. It looked nice and well kept, fitting in snuggly between its neighbors’. The homes weren’t matching, but none of them looked out of place next to one another; the colors and materials complementing each other instead of clashing. 

Marco jogged across the street, camera catching mostly asphalt as it was angled downward by his thick belt, then sidewalk, then the gray wooden steps. He knocked a few times and waited.

He rang the doorbell and waited.

He knocked louder. “Lio! Are you in there?” He hopped down from the steps to a window. He rapped on the glass. “Hello?”

Suddenly, the camera went a-blur and shuffling sounds overtook the microphone until Marco’s face appeared again, looking down at the device as he walked. 

“Man, I don’t know where he could be if he ain’t here, ‘cause I have literally never seen this guy leave except with Ellias, and he left this morning without him. I’m going around back to see if I can see anything else. My grandma really liked the guy - he’s British or some shit and she thought his accent was adorable - and she brings these dudes pies cause my brother and I can’t eat the crust. She says Ellias still talks about Lio as if he’s still livin’ here so I don’t know where the fuck he could’ve gone.”

The boy tapped the screen to flip the camera around again, displaying the back of the two-story home. 

“Something just seems wrong about it all, man. I keep hearing shit too.” 

Phone back in his pocket, Marco started up to the door, repeating his routine of knocking and calling out. When he started testing the lock on the door a figure came into view behind him.

“What _the hell_ do you think you’re doing?” 

Marco spun around, voice caught in his throat for only a second. “Hey, neighbor. I was, uh, looking for ya.”

“Marco,” a smooth voice said sternly. “What the hell are doing?”

“I told you, I was lookin’ for ya.”

“By breaking into my house?”

Marco shifted on his feet. “Nah, no, it ain’t like that. I just got a little worried is all. Thought something might be wrong.”

“What?” came the incredulous reply. “Look, go home, Marco. I don’t want to have to tell your grandmother I found you trying to jimmy open my back door, alright? Just go home.” A body lightly shoved the teen to the side and away from the door, forcing him to back down the steps into the backyard. He used the movement to disguise how he moved his phone from his back pocket to his front. 

Ellias stood at the top of the stairs, looking much taller than he should from Marco’s spot in the yard. His back was to him, seemingly testing the door for any damage. 

“Actually, my gran sent me.”

The man turned, level shoulders rolling back as he regarded the boy suspiciously. “What? She told you to break in?”

“No, I-. No, she didn’t tell me nothing, to do anything,” he tried to explain. “But, ah, look. She’s just worried about Lio. We haven’t seen him in a while, and we just want to know that he’s alright. She’s worried about him.”

Ellias squinted at him, but his expression did not change from his irritated state. “He’s fine. You can leave now.”

Marco’s hands appeared on camera for a moment to gesture out in front of him before loosely falling back against his legs with a _slap_ , annoyed at the dismission. “Uh, can I, I don’t know, see him?”

“No, he’s sick.”

“I thought you said he was fine.”

“He’s fine, just sick.”

“Well, how long has he been sick?” Marco asked, getting curt. “Is it serious? ‘Cause we haven’t seen him for a whole-ass month and then some.”

Ellias turned to face him fully, hands up around his head as he gave a frustrated sigh. “Look, man, I don’t know what to tell you. He’s sick. He doesn’t want to see anybody.”

“I just need to see, with my own two eyes, that he’s okay.”

“Excuse me?” It came out as a laugh, Ellias appearing baffled by the suggestion. He apparently found the audacity humourous. “I don’t like what you’re implying here.”

The young man was silent a bit, camera bouncing with his body as he roughly nodded along. “Alright, alright. How ‘bout this? Is your AC busted?”

Ellias face twisted, arms crossing. “What? Excuse me?”

“Is. your. A.C. Busted.” the young man repeated out - slowly and mockingly like he was stupid. “It’s been unusually hot at night for this time of year, hasn’t it? That why you guy are leaving your windows open upstairs?”

Ellias’ frown twitched, tone growing steadily more cross. “You’ve been paying that much attention to my house and you want to stand here and tell me you _weren’t_ just about to rob me?”

Marco ignored him. “I was out front of my grandmother's place late last night to smoke and I heard screaming coming from _your_ house. From _your_ upstairs.” 

Ellias shook his head, smiling as if he couldn’t believe the nonsense he was hearing. “Wow. Okay. That’s a complete lie.”

“I ain't lying!”

“If there was someone horror-movie screaming in my house the whole neighborhood would’ve heard, not just you because you ‘happened’ to be outside and because a window was open.” To emphasize his point, Ellias made a fist and slammed it back against the siding. The noise was loud, and the dry wood crumbled softly at the hit. “This whole house is old as fuck - you really think my shitty windows would block any Saw torture going on here? Open or closed, it doesn’t matter. You’re being ridiculous.”

“It wasn’t bloody-murder screaming, man. It was loud crying- Like someone was being hurt. _And_ it is not the first time I've heard something like that. All of a sudden people are hearing shouts and crashes at random hours from this place. So if you don’t like my _‘implying’_ then I’ll be real up front with you: I don’t want no Ariel Castro shit here. So you better be showing me that Lio is alive and well real quick before I-”

“Before you what?” Ellias didn’t move from his spot. He didn’t glower down, didn’t raise his voice. Ellias did nothing particularly intimidating in the traditional sense. He merely shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down on the teenage boy - unimpressed, amused even, as if he didn’t care what he did. It filled the air with a sense of unease. “I can’t imagine you’d want the police around here? Especially if I tell them you’re making up some bullshit story to cover up the fact you were trying to break down my door.”

“Nobody has to ask me anything for a welfare check,” Marco asserted, but his voice shook just enough for Ellias to notice. “Even if they did, you’d have to show them that Lio is okay first. If you can’t do that, nothing you’d say would matter.”

“Then call them,” the man said with a shrug. “If you are so confident, it shouldn’t be a problem then, right?” He nodded to the device in Marco’s pocket. “You have your phone, I see. Call them.”

Marco almost reached for his phone at its mention. His body shifted enough to tell that he was looking around, as if suddenly realizing that he was in a mostly closed-in yard, out of sight. He wasn’t a scrawny guy by any means, but he couldn’t deny that his only company at the moment was taller, older, and probably faster with a whole lot more to lose if Marco’s suspicions were correct. Said man had his hands deep in his pockets. He was gripping something, and it was probably his phone, his wallet, his keys, anything harmless, but the way that Ellias stared him down, so incredibly unconcerned was making him think twice about it. He would have to turn his camera off to call anyone.

“If we don’t see Lio within a few days we’re gonna have a problem,” Marco warned, starting to side step his way back. He had wanted it to come out tough, but the waver in his voice betrayed him.

“He should be better by then, I’d imagine,” Ellias said agreeably. “I’ll see that he stops by.”

“...Alright.” The rest of the footage consisted of Marco steadily walking away, around the corner of the house until Ellias disappeared from his view. His pace sped up, and he stopped only once in the middle of the quiet street to look back up at the house who only stared silently back. 

From there he jogged back to his front door. He struggled to get it open, during which only the old wood of the door was shown on screen accompanied by some light swearing. Once inside, the phone was yanked out of the pocket.

“What the fuck is wrong with that gu-”

\---

“‘That guy had us arrested by the Anti-Burnish police,” Remi read out loud. “‘There’s no way he knew about my brother. He called in a false report that just happened to be true because he knew we would be detained for a few days regardless. If Lio says he was being abused by this guy I believe him and everyone else should too.’” Remi cleared his throat. “And then the last tweet in the thread says ‘here’s video proof I knew and confronted him’ and that’s the one Lucia sent to me.”

“Has anyone responded to him?” Galo questioned. “What are they saying?”

“They’re playing armchair psychologist with Ellias body language. A few are calling him racist for assuming he was breaking into his house and there’s some arguments about that, but most people are expressing sympathy.”

“This could work,” the lawyer observed, speaking almost cheerfully. “Getting the public to turn against her may be enough to get her to back off - it’ll make our case way easier to deal with.”

“Is his family okay?” All eyes turned to Lio, save for Galo’s, who had been watching him carefully from the start. “His grandmother and his brother. Are they okay?”

Remi adjusted his glasses restlessly. “I… I don’t know, he doesn’t say.”

“Ask him.”

“His… Ah, his DMs aren’t open. I’ll have to-”

“Whatever it is you have to do, do it,” Lio ordered coldly. “Ask him.”

Remi nodded. If he was concerned or took offense to the sudden direction he didn’t show it.

The lawyer, however, picked up on the mood and started packing up her things. “I think we’ll adjourn for the day. You should go home and get some rest. I’ll send some things over to you tomorrow and we can go from there, okay?”

“That’s fine,” Lio answered evenly, head resting against his hand. 

With a nod and a quick squeeze to Galo’s shoulder, she said one last thing before departing. “Make sure to actually rest, okay?”

After she left, Galo gave Lio a worried look. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he replied.

“You’re doing that thing again.”

“What thing?”

“That thing where you’re suddenly and eerily emotionless.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Okay, but-”

“Would I rather I cry and scream?” Lio snapped. “What exactly would that solve?”

Galo threw his hands up, frustrated. “It’s not about what it would solve, Lio! Don’t take it out on me just ‘cause I’m trying to help!”

“Excuse me.”

“ _What?!_ ” they both shouted.

Remi fixed them both with an annoyed look. Galo muttered an apology while Lio just looked away with a huff.

“I followed your old acquaintance,” Remi informed. “I told him who I was and that I wanted to talk. Then he followed me, then-”

Lio was about to burst. “Are they are okay or not?” he bit out.

“No.” 

Lio flinched, facing the lieutenant once more with disbelief. “What?”

Remi sighed somberly, shaking his head.

“...Let me see.” Remi slid his phone over to him without hesitation. 

“Galo, while he’s doing that, I want to show you the new gear protocol while we have the chance.”

Galo looked surprised. “Oh, okay, sure. Lio, will you be okay here by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine,” he responded, not looking up from the phone. “Go do your thing. I’ll be here.”

“Yeah, okay then,” he said, standing up from his chair. “If you need anything, just, like, scream real loud or something. Scream that there’s a matoi convention out front, I’ll come running!” 

Galo started to laugh, but it died quickly and alone. 

“Come on,” Remi urged, heading to the door. “Your paperwork has taken up a lot of time, I don’t have all day.”

Once Galo had fallen in step with him, Remi led him through the hall to the locker room. Remi thought it was a safe enough distance away that they wouldn’t be overheard.

“So what about the gear? What’s new about it?” Galo asked, confused.

Remi turned to him, expression stern and serious, like a parent who had caught their child scribbling on the walls. “You need to get Fotia to see someone.”

Galo’s face scrunched up, apparently put off by the idea. “Well, I was hoping we’d be seeing each other after all this-”

“No, you fool. Like a doctor. A therapist or something.”

His expression fell, not entirely enthused about that idea either. “Oh.”

“He’s unstable. A complete mess.” Remi told him. “I wouldn’t care so much if he was self-destructing all by himself, but he’s going to take everyone down with him and we are all involved here one way or another.”

“That’s not fair. It’s not like it’s his fault-”

Remi held up a hand to put a stop to his teammate’s train of thought. “I’m not saying that it is. His situation in life is truly terrible, but how he handles it is a concern that he does have control over.” Upon seeing Galo’s troubled expression, his tone and expression turned a bit more sympathetic. “You saw how he was that day, it was like he completely lost his mind. It’s not healthy, he’s going to make everything worse for himself if he doesn’t get a handle on it. Do you want that?”

Galo rubbed his arm, eyes downcast. “...No.”

“Then you need to convince him to see someone. I know of a great gal, very professional, very intelligent. I can call her up and give Lio my appointment with her tomorrow-”

“Remi, I can’t even convince Lio to sleep in _a bed,_ what makes you think I can get him to see a shrink?” He blinked, as if just hearing the rest of Remi’s sentence. “Wait, you see a therapist? Why?”

“Galo, you don’t just ask people that,” he lectured tiredly. “I’ve been doing this job for a long time. Needing some sort of emotional consultation and coping skill assistance comes with the territory.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry.” Then, almost sheepishly, he asked. “Do you think I will need to see someone? Eventually?”

Remi gave him a worn down look, as if Galo just asked him if the Earth was really round. “I think you should’ve been seeing someone years ago.”

“What?!” the man yelped, offended. “Really?!”

“Clearly you and Fotia are a match - dumb-ass magnets drawn together by cosmic forces beyond a sane understanding - but you both are volleying a small collection of brain cells between the two of you on a court of chaotic energy, using your emotional trauma as racquets.”

Galo made a face, comically hurt. “I did not come here to be so poetically attacked.”

Remi feigned shock at this. “No? What do you talk to me for then?”

\---

_“What do you want”_

_“Apologies for bothering you. As I said, I’m Remi Pugna and I’m with Burning Rescue here in Promepolis. I have Lio here with me. He wanted to ask if your grandmother and brother are okay?”_

_“It’s just me now.”_

Lio stared down hard at the messages. He didn’t know at the time what happened to people detained by the Freeze Force types, but he assumed it was some type of prison, and he knew even back then that an old woman and young child likely wouldn’t survive there. Lio recalled that he knew that much - he should’ve known. He didn’t know why the confirmation hurt him so much.

 _“Marco, this is Lio,”_ he typed out. _“I am so, so sorry.”_

 _“Prove to me that you’re actually him.”_ came the reply. Lio didn’t blame him. _“Send me a selfie of you holding up three fingers.”_

Lio did as he asked, briefly wondering in the back of his mind if the lieutenant would mind finding a despondent-looking Lio in his camera roll later. He thought about going in and deleting it, but he didn’t want to accidentally snoop in the other man’s phone.

 _“Oh shit it is you,”_ Marco responded. _“Don’t apologize to me man. I should’ve called the cops that day instead of waiting. I was just scared of the police sniffing around my family with my brother and all. I’m sorry for that.”_

_“You did everything you could. Your family should come first. I’m sorry they were taken away from you because of me.”_

_“Ellias did that. Not you.”_ Lio gritted his teeth at that. Of all the things Ellias did, he found that this was the worst offense. Regardless if he actually knew about the child being Burnish, he knew he was putting the family’s lives at risk making a report like that, and yet he did it anyway. _“So I was right then? He was hurting you”_

_“Yes.”_

_“How?”_ The question took him by surprise. Lio didn’t quite know how to answer for several moments. 

_“Any way that he could.”_ is what he finally settled on. _“I know now that he wanted to make sure I would never leave him.”_

 _“Did you really kill him?”_ Lio felt his heart stop. _“That’s what everyone is saying and if you did I dont blame you but I got to know the truth.”_ Lio’s thumbs hovered over the screen, shaking. Unsure.

A chair creaked. Lio’s head snapped up to see who had managed to sneak up on him.

“Captain Ignis.” Lio greeted calmly. The large man had taken a seat across the table from him, where Galo had once been. “How are you doing today?”

“I’m doing as well as I can be, Fotia. And you?”

“I’d say the same.”

“Hmm.”

There was a long stretch of silence. About halfway through, Lio’s eyes started to flick between the captain, the phone in his hands, and possible exits in the room while Ignis' gaze remained steady on the other.

“Is there...something I can help you with?”

“I have a daughter.”

Lio blinked. “Yes, you do,” he said, for he didn’t know how else to respond.

“I love my daughter.” 

Lio’s eyes darted to the side before returning, confused. “I-... Of course you do.”

“All parents should love their children.” Even through the sunglasses, Lio could tell that the captain’s stare intensified with the statement. “That’s just a basic fact.”

Lio’s grip tightened on the phone. He still hadn’t replied.

“Your parents weren’t very kind to you, I hear.” 

Lips pursed, Lio resists the urge to look down, as if he should be embarrassed about that fact.

“They were very… focused,” he said, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. It felt like something he needed to say to justify his background. “Goal-oriented. They… didn’t have a lot of time or patience for anything else.”

Ignis looked as unimpressed as ever. “I have a pretty demanding job myself and I still make time for my child.”

The former leader shrugged. “Not their style, I guess.”

“Hmm.”

Even more silence filled the room, and it would’ve went on for almost as long, had the older man’s gruff voice not cut through it.

“I heard your father passed. I’m very sorry to hear that.”

Lio nodded. _‘Should I… thank him?’_

“I also saw your mother’s interview.”

Lio nodded. He felt his thoughts start to go empty.

“And I heard some other things about your folks.”

Lio nodded.

This time, the captain nods back. The silence returns, like a heavy blanket draped over Lio’s head.

“One day, my daughter will be all grown up,” Ignis starts again. “But nothing will change the fact that she’s my little girl.” 

“She’s very lucky to have you, Captain.”

He scoffed. “Luck’s got nothing to do with it. I’m simply doing what any good parent should. Taking care of my kid, making sure she has as good of a life I can give her. Safe and happy.”

Suddenly the mood in the room shifted. 

“And if she told me that someone had hurt her-” The man tilted his head down, sunglasses slipping just enough down the bridge of his nose so that Lio could see his eyes seering into him. “I’d kill them. And if my little girl blamed herself for being hurt, I’d resurrect that sorry soul and kill them again.” Glasses back in place, he continued. “It’s what _any_ good parent would do. If anyone says differently, I’d be very inclined to think that there was something seriously wrong with them.”

Lio sat stock still, the words soaking into his skin.

“Do you understand me, Fotia?”

At first, the younger man was quiet, staring down at the phone in his hands. He sniffed - once and only once, before trying to cover it up by clearing his throat. He turned away from Ignis, tilting his head in such a way so that he couldn’t see most of his face through the thick curtain of hair.

“I do, Captain,” he said steadily.

“Good.” Ignis stood to leave, his large frame casting a shadow over Lio. 

When they first met, Lio felt dwarfed in his presence in both height and command, but over time they had grown to have a distant, mutual respect for each other, and now the shadow was less an omen of a dark overcast to Lio, and more akin to a shield from the rain.

His large hand eased onto the other’s shoulder; heavy, but not at all hard. “Come to me if you need anything. You and Galo may be adults but that doesn’t mean anything at all to me. You two are my kids now.”

Lio felt his chest constrict and eyes sting. He bit the inside of his cheek hard to stop himself, to remind himself to breathe even and calmly. His heart pounded against his ribs.

“...Thank you, sir.”

If Ignis gave any sort of non-verbal reply, Lio couldn’t see it, but soon after the hand left his shoulder. Lio waited patiently for him to leave. The man’s footstep echoed in the empty room, before the weighted creak of an old door opening and the hollow sound of it closing signaled his departure. 

Lio gasped out the shaky breath he was holding, furiously scrubbing at his eyes with the heels of his palm. He laughed a little at his pathetic state, but he cut himself short as he sensed the action start to turn into little sobs. He wasn’t even too sure why he wanted to cry in the first place. Was it out of happiness at the new acceptance? Or the pain of old rejection? Either way, he knew that if he started crying he wouldn’t be able to stop, and then Galo would find him here in a mess and he wouldn’t be able to get his thoughts straight enough to tell him why.

Ignis was right, though. The people he should’ve been able to trust to care for him let him down cruelly. He knew he had a place for him here in the city. He knows Galo had told him before, but to hear it from a more neutral party somehow made more of an impact. It also made it harder for his _what-if_ riddled mind to protest.

Lio dug through the room until he found an unused napkin to blow his nose on. He took a few more breaths in until his lungs no longer felt like they were shaking. Once he returned to his seat, he answered.

_“I defended myself.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ellias: Yes. Now that I have my tangled web all set up, with ample cover up and multiple sources of income stemming from one single person, I just have to make sure he doesn’t leave me. Easy.
> 
> Lio, genuinely wanting to be helpful: I’mma ‘bout to end this man’s whole career  
> \---  
> I wrote - I wanna say most of this fic? While working at my office (yes! During the pandemic! We could’ve worked from home! But we weren’t allowed. :) ) so of course the evil greed of capitalism would be the main antagonist - as it is in most of our lives.
> 
> Thank you all so much for all the comments and support! Seriously - you guys are the best!


	9. Past Life

Later that evening, the Mad Burnish were in Galo’s living room. Meis and Gueira were going to leave once Kostas came to pick up the newly notarized will paperwork, but Galo invited them to stay for dinner. 

“Lio and I were going to order Thai!” 

“Fuck yeah, I love that spicy shit!” Gueira agreed without any hesitation while Lio muttered to himself that he had trouble recalling that they had even made dinner plans. Meis was also easily convinced once he was informed that it was Galo’s treat.

He wanted to make sure Lio was in the best mood possible before asking him to consider going to see the therapist tomorrow. Spicy, filling foods and his closest friends should do the trick. Or at least Galo thought.

His phone ringing in the middle of dinner took him by surprise. He answered it - not expecting it to be the therapist’s office - and then tried to look as inconspicuous as possible getting up and slipping into his room, which, judging by the three pairs of eyes staring a hole into him, he wasn’t super successful at.

“Who was that?” Lio queried when he returned to the table. 

Welp. Now was as good a time as ever. “How do you feel about seeing a therapist?”

A pair of chopsticks dropped onto the table, judging by the sound it made. It was either Meis’ or Gueira’s, as Lio’s froze halfway to his mouth, but Galo didn’t dare look away for even a second. He was determined to show no weakness, he wouldn’t back down this time! Lio’s health depended on it.

Delicately, Lio sat his food back into his to-go box and set aside his utensils on a napkin. He laughed a little, two breathless sounds, before clearing his throat and turning to Galo with a pleasant expression. “I’m sorry, what?”

Galo’s mouth was going dry. “Well, you see, Remi had a talk with me and - and I agree with him! - uh, he said that he, uh.” Galo chuckled nervously, Lio's stare and polite smile continuing to unnerve him. “I just think it would be helpful. To see and, uh, talk. To someone.”

“ _You_ think?”

“Yes, ah, well, Remi suggested it - as I said - but I also think it makes a lot of sense! So. Oh! And-!” Lio’s expression was starting to fade into a glower. Galo dialed back the enthusiasm. “...And, uh, Remi sees someone, and he says this woman, doctor, person… he says she is very nice and, um, fitting? And he was kind enough to offer his appointment that he had tomorrow, so that you don’t have to wait. You know, if you want to. Which I was going to ask later, but they called to confirm the appointment and then you asked-”

“Did you just confirm an appointment for me that I had no idea existed without even telling me?”

Gueira audibly winced, like a sports fan after a particularly bad play. “ _Oooouh…_ ”

Painfully aware of how this sounded, Galo attempted to backpedal. “Uhh, no, well, actually-”

“Galo, this joke is no longer funny.”

“It’s not-! Okay, wait, I was _going_ to ask - see? _Ask_ , not tell! - later, but then they called me, just now, and I didn’t think they’d do that quite so soon-”

“When did you think a doctor’s office would call?” Lio quipped, observing Galo like he just witnessed him spitting on a busy sidewalk. “For an appointment that is tomorrow? Were they supposed to call at 9 PM? 10:30?”

Galo’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, feeling exposed under Lio’s antipathetic judgement. For the first time, he looked to the others at the table for help. He found instead two people watching them like a live K-Drama.

“I won’t be going.” Galo turned back to see the Lio had resumed eating, seemingly unbothered by it all.

“Lio, come on…”

“No,” he replied curtly, eyes not leaving his food. “I have no need for such a thing.”

“Okay, but you do? Actually?” A brilliant idea took control of Galo’s words before he had a chance to think about it. “And I bet Meis and Gueira think so too!” 

Lio’s gaze snapped up, already in a smoldering glare at the two, who suddenly looked far less enthused about being there. “...No, I don’t think they do.”

Gueira abruptly looked like he was working on a complicated math problem on the ceiling, but Meis met his leader’s stare evenly. “I think that’s a good idea, actually.”

Lio’s jaw clenched. “Gueira.”

Said man squinted harder at the floor above him. “Well… You know. I don’t… _disagree_ with Galo… but, uh.. I do… _agree_ with Meis… so…”

“Oh! I see!” Lio exclaimed, roughly getting up from the folding table. “So you _all_ think I’m crazy then!”

“No! No no no, nobody said that.” Galo got up as well, attempting to calm the man already marching away from him. It didn’t help that Gueira responded to the accusation nonchalantly with a “yeah, kinda.”

“See!” Lio argued, pointing at the general, ignoring the fact that he was currently receiving a scathing look from Meis.

“You don’t need to be ‘crazy’ to see a therapist,” Galo tried. “It’s pretty common amongst Burning Rescue - that’s why Remi sees her!”

“Do _you_ see a therapist?”

“Well, no-” Lio threw up his arms as if his point was made. “But I will! I need to! I told Remi that I would.”

“Great!” Lio proclaimed, arms folding stubbornly. “Then, _you_ go see one and leave me out of it.”

Galo let out a large exhale, readying himself for his Plan B. “Lio, I _really_ think you should consider-”

“I don’t need to consider anything, actually!”

“-that this is something that can be extremely good for your own well-being-”

“Of course you know me better than myself! How could I forget? My mistake!”

“-We’re all very worried about you and concerned that all of this is wearing you down emotionally, mentally, and physically-”

“What a novel way to say that you think I’m too insane to take care of myself.”

“I understand that this sort of thing can be really scary, but it is really for the best-”

“And who are _you_ to say what’s best for _me_ all of a sudden?!”

“ _Lio, you are_ **_going!_ **” The silence that came after the shout was deafening.

Lio looked shocked, in an insulted kind of way, and Galo’s quick glance at the two Burnish still at the table confirmed that they too were stunned.

“Lio,” Galo tried again, much calmer this time. “You are going to this appointment tomorrow. I will take you, we can leave here at 8 AM and go to that breakfast place you like, and then we go to the office for the 9:30 appointment, and we should be early enough that you can fill out whatever paperwork you need to. I will wait for you in the waiting room, and then, probably after scheduling another appointment, we can go home.” Galo then clapped his hands together softly. “And that is... what we will do.”

Lio watched his opponent, a scowl curling its way across his face. “...No.”

“Well, I’m very sorry you feel that way, but there is no room for ‘no’ here,” Galo said matter-of-factly, hand on his hips. “You are going. That’s it.”

Lio barked out a laugh. “And what are you going to do? Make me?”

“I’ll shove you in a pillowcase and drop in through the office building’s chimney if I have to” A brief moment of thought, then, “Or their roof access. They probably don’t have a chimney.”

Lio gaped furiously at the firefighter, who stood firm in his path. Galo exuded confidence in his unwavering command. He would not be budged. 

Lio turned to his generals, who had been watching in stupefied silence. “Well?!”

“...’Well,’ what?” Gueira echoed back.

Infuriated at the lack of support, Lio had trouble finding any words to say.

“And!” Galo suddenly piped back up. “You are sleeping in my bed tonight!” He looked triumphant in the declaration, but the impact was dulled by the quick addition of “And I will sleep on the couch.”

Lio managed to look even more bewildered at the statements. “ _What?_ ” 

“You need a good night’s rest and I refuse to allow you to- uh, to um, oh! To _torture yourself!_ Yeah, to torture yourself by denying yourself the most comfortable option- to, uh disallow me to extend- to extend my kindness, by giving the best sleeping arrangements I have to offer.”

Galo looked proud of himself after the speech, which only served to fluster Lio even further. “What _the fuck_ are you on about?”

“In fact! I think you should prob- no, you should _absolutely_ turn in for an earlier night to catch up on all the rest I know you’ve been missing!” Galo folded his arms with a resolute nod. “You should start getting ready for bed now, it’s already late.”

“Wha- What the hell are you trying to pull here?” Lio spat. “Are you seriously trying to _ground_ me right now?”

“Yes.” Galo pointed behind him to his door. “Go to my room.”

Meis and Gueira’s eyes shifted to their leader, who looked seconds away from bursting a blood vessel. They knew that at this point, if he were still Burnish, the man before them would be nothing but fire. 

“ _Fuck. you._ ” he ground out.

“Lio, you know I’m right. Go get some sleep.”

“You don’t know _anything_.”

“I don’t need to be Spelling Bee champion to see that you make shitty decisions about yourself! Anyone can look at you and see you’re a goddamn mess! Now go!”

Incensed beyond belief, Lio’s fists shook by his sides. He didn’t even bother looking to his right-hand men again, already well-aware that it’d be a pointless endeavor. He felt like a nuclear reactor, boiling hot rage building up within him till he was certain he was going to burst at the seams. Oh, how he wish he could _burn._

The thought sparked something in him - the tiniest bit of logic reminding him of who he was now, where he was now. There was no need to be on alert anymore, to be on guard and obstinate. Galo was no threat to him.

Of course, outwardly, it simply looked like Lio was silently contemplating how he wanted to go about murdering everyone in the room and whether or not he wanted to care if he was caught. Galo felt ice in his veins - almost positive that he had pushed too far, tried to bend Lio’s will too much that he snapped, but he locked every muscle in his body anyway, as rigid as an old tree, strong and tall. He relied on the burning determination in his heart and soul to keep him from crumbling under Lio’s freezing stare.

Keeping his eyes on Galo, Lio slowly turned, like an opposing predator wanting to leave a confrontation without being attacked from behind. He yanked up his duffle bag of things from beside the couch, glaring at the other man as if the very action was a defiance. 

“Where are you going?” Galo asked sternly, after recognizing the Lio was not heading to his bedroom as directed.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he hissed, swinging the door to the bathroom open. “Or do I need permission to do that too, you goddamn babysitter!”

The door was slammed, a muffled screech could be heard echoing amongst the tile, and Galo let out a huge gasping breath of air, resolve falling faster than a toppled house of cards.

“Jesus Christ,” Gueira breathed. “I thought he was gonna rip your throat out for sure.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t,” Meis added. “I guess he really does like you. Congrats.”

Galo slunk back to his spot where he all but collapsed into his chair, head buried in his arms on the table. “That was so _hard!_ My heart hurts so baaaddd!”

“Are you crying...?”

Galo lifted his head, eyes teary, nose running.

Gueira cringed. “Ew. Gross.” 

Meis rolled his eyes. “Gueira, you were sobbing pathetically with him only yesterday-”

“What if he _hates_ me now?!” Galo whined. “I’ll never forgive myself if he _hates_ me!”

“He won’t hate you for _not_ being a doormat,” Meis said, reaching out in an attempt to comfort the other with a hearty shoulder pat. He changed his mind after Galo allowed his head to fall forward onto the table with a _thunk_ and a gross sniffling noise. “Look, Boss isn’t stupid. Underneath all his stubbornness he obviously knows you’re right, otherwise he really would’ve killed you.”

“Then why do I feel so baaddd…”

“Because you’re a people-pleaser,” Gueira told him simply. “And an idiot.”

“An idiot people-pleaser,” Meis confirmed.

“A foolish yes-man.”

“A dumbass pushover.”

Galo looked up, slightly offended. “This isn’t actually helping me feel better.”

“Who said we were trying to do anything like that?” Gueira scoffed.

“In any case, we should get going,” Meis mused. “Thank you for the food and all, but the night’s been kinda rough and I want to go home now.”

“Yeah, way too much excitement, I think it’s all starting to catch up to me.” Gueira stretched until his back cracked. “Keep us updated, but I think a few days of being as chill as possible could do the Boss some good.”

Galo frowned, brow furrowed. He was at a complete loss on how he was supposed to make that happen.

\---

When Lio exited the bathroom, Galo was shoving a sheet around the couch cushions. He jumped when he spied the other man lingering in the doorframe, already dressed for bed.

“Hey,” Galo said gently. “I, uh, I changed the sheets on the bed for you. You should be all set.”

Lio nodded, but didn’t reply.

Galo nodded back. He was going to leave it at that - already busying his hands and focus again with his task - but in the end he couldn’t handle even the few seconds of silence. “Lio, look, I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. I’m just- we’re all just-” The soft closing of a door ended his thought. Galo looked up to where Lio once was, then to his now shut bedroom door. 

He stared at it for a while, before allowing himself to fall forward, face-planting into the cushions. There, he groaned loudly and pitifully.

Galo dreamed of fire. All consuming fire, devouring everything in its path. He dreamed of ashes slipping through his fingers, disappearing and dissolving no matter how hard he tried to keep it all from falling apart. He dreamed of breathing life into fading forms, and failing. He dreamed of the Earth exploding under his feet and the faces of everyone he cared about being swallowed whole by inferno and of him being helpless to stop it. 

He dreamed of a home, he knew that he had to try to save those trapped inside, but he couldn’t even get past the door. He slammed his shoulder into the wood, but not only would it not budge, but it seemed to shove him back with double the force that he put in. He heard screams, growing louder and louder as the flames grew higher and higher. Fueled by panic and need, he doubled his efforts. He _had_ to save them. After a particularly strong attempt, he was thrown back into the street. Once there he was able to recognize his childhood home in flames and the shadowy figure of Kray in the distance, back turned, walking away from him. He reached out and called for his aid, but as soon as he did he knew that he was being ignored, and the flames of the home surged. 

He knew he had to do this on his own, he knew that he had to help, but the screams, though so faded in his memories, struck a chord of deep, instinctual recognition, and he knew how this ended. A hot flush of hopelessness ran his body cold. 

Then, another scream, clearer and new, tore out of the fire and every cell in his body roared awake far stronger than anything Galo had felt before. He _knew_ that voice, and he rushed the door. It gave way easily this time and now that he was inside he-

Galo awoke to screaming.

Lio dreamed of fire. Out of control fire, far from his reach and call. He dreamed of shadowed hands reaching and grabbing onto him, biting and scaring into his arms like barbed wire no matter how hard he tried to get free. He dreamed of struggling to pull away from an icy force that had thrusted its way into him, and failing. He dreamed of the Earth exploding under his feet and the faces of everyone he cared about being swallowed whole by inferno and of him being helpless to stop it. 

He dreamed of his parents sipping gasoline from champagne flutes before pouring the rest onto his body, pinned down like a butterfly on display. He dreamed of Ellias above him, lighting a match. He dreamed of a rocking police car hidden in dark shadows. He dreamed of Kray, raising flames from hundreds of dead bodies. He dreamed of working his hands bloody and raw until every last Burnish was saved and then using those same hands to push them all away. He pushed everyone away from him and dug himself deeper and deeper and now he was in such a deep pit that he could no longer see the people he loved more than he thought someone like him could. He was trapped and alone and so, so cold. Some part of him knew he should, he _could_ call for help. Scream and reach for anyone who may be there, but the larger part of him told him that he wasn’t allowed. 

Lio awoke to silence. The first thing he saw was their bedroom wall. Their bed was tucked in a corner and originally Lio had thought his spot next to the wall was cozy, but now, with a wall to his front, a wall to his head, and an angry boyfriend to his back, Lio felt trapped. With impossible knowledge, Lio wondered if that too was somehow a part of his plan.

The spot behind him was empty when he awoke, and for a moment he was confused as to what woke him up in the first place. Then he heard the bathroom door open. 

_‘Ah, the shower turned off,’_ he reasoned. It wasn’t the addition of a new noise, but rather the absence of one that stirred him. Regardless, he didn’t move a muscle. Though no one could see him, he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep and harmless. He listened carefully. He heard the other man move around the room before eventually the mattress behind him dipped and it was quiet again. 

Until a hand snaked around his waist. “Hey. Are you awake?” He was doing well to keep pretending to not be until a kiss ghosted against the back of his neck and he flinched. “Liloo…”

The pet name was a good sign that he actually was in a good mood, and usually (or whatever the word for “the most recent type of usually” happened to be) he would take any opportunity to enjoy any semblance of past normalcy.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t been having sex these past months since Ellias’ sudden change of temperament. If anything, the gentle kindness he was treated to during was like a breath of fresh air to the point where Lio sometimes went out of his way to seduce him. The young man was nothing if not resourceful, at least; even if he did feel strangely and increasingly empty afterwards.

That night, however, the way that the hand moved up and under his shirt twisted his stomach. He was still sporting a black eye from the other’s latest mood swing and was in no mood to put out. 

And so he pulled away. “Not right now,” he mumbled, not having to try hard to sound exhausted. He heard a deep sigh as fingertips relented and pulled back. 

Lio was very nearly almost asleep again when he was suddenly grabbed by the arm, hauled over, and thrown to the floor. He yelped when his head cracked against something - it all happened so fast that he wasn’t sure if it was the nightstand or the wooden floor. He was dazed and confused with a splitting headache, but he still managed to look up at his boyfriend. Through the white heat behind his eyes he could make out that he had his back to him, laying on the bed as if he had been the one pretending to be asleep.

“You’re pissing me off,” came the sharp voice. “Go somewhere else if you’re going to be like that.”

Lio went through a range of emotions before finally landing on angry. He hadn’t done anything _wrong_ so what the hell did he mean: _be like that._ Be like what? Tired? Drained? Not in the mood to sleep covered in sweat and spit and anxiety? 

He let his anger guide him downstairs. He grabs a throw pillow, pulls a quilt off the back of a chair, and practically throws himself onto the couch. He squeezes his eyes shut in frustration, and when he opens them, he’s staring at their bedroom wall again.

It’s another night. He had gone to sleep with Ellias next to him, it had been a day without incident, but he remembered feeling unsettled about it. He didn’t have time to think about what awoke him before he was pulled back against a strong chest, hands moved smoothly to shove aside his clothes.

“Ellia--” His chin was gripped and his head was turned gently. Lips captured his own and he felt himself comply on instinct, eyes falling shut and mouth opening up. Eventually though, his mind caught up with him and he turned his head away. “What are you doing?” he breathed.

“What do you mean?” Ellias asked with an amused chuckle. He was fully above him now, knees on either side of his hips as he straddled him. He was already shirtless and it took only a second to make Lio match. 

His chest heaved, still a bit disoriented. “I don’t-”

“Oh, hush, it’s alright,” he said dismissively, moving to tug down the other’s pajama pants. Ellias had already pushed Lio’s waistband down an inch when he finally had enough wits about him to reach out and grasp his wrist to stop him. “What? What’s with you?”

“I don’t- Not tonight, okay? I’m-”

“What? You got an early day tomorrow? Did you have a hard time at work today?” Ellias was looking down at him, and Lio felt a lot smaller than he was under the unamused glare.

“...I just-”

“You just what? Last I checked, there’s only one of us who does anything to provide around here because the other is significantly incapable of damn near everything.” A swift yank and twist and it was Lio’s wrist ensnared. “I think you owe me this much.”

Lio’s breath hitched. “N-no, Ellias, stop. I said I-” He struggled, but it was a weak effort against the vice-like grip, biting scars into him. “I said- I don’t want-” Another hand muffled his voice. He knew it was Ellias’ - it had to be - but in his mind’s eye it seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Just shut up for a bit, alright? We both know you’ll enjoy this so-” Ellias reeled back, yanking his hand away as he shouted sharply in pain. He pulled his hand to his face to inspect the bite mark, just barely able to make out that it was bleeding under the moonlight streaming in through the open window. When he looked back to the young man under him, a defiant gaze met him head on.

“I _said_ no,” Lio spoke firmly. “Leave me alone.”

For a moment, no one moved. Then, Ellias’ shoulders began to shake lightly in mirth. 

“Oh,” he said darkly. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”

The blow had Lio’s ears ringing and his arms quickly flew to his face to act as a shield. The man above him used the opening as an opportunity to drag him further down the bed, but Lio caught on quickly and grabbed ahold of the headboard to pull back. He wasn’t sure how that was supposed to help, but all he knew is that wherever Ellias dragged him to was not any place where Lio wanted to go.

He landed a kick to the taller man’s shoulder and scrambled away. Lio had managed to get up on his own two feet when something slammed into the back of his head, sending him to the ground. He spent less than two seconds there before he was grabbed and whipped into the wall. He managed to dodge the first punch, but his fist hitting solid drywall only served to piss Ellias off even more and the second punch came hard and fast to the spot directly under Lio’s sternum, knocking the wind out of him and bringing him to his knees. Lio could do nothing but curl into himself as tight as he could and wait out the storm of strikes hailing upon him.

Lio had no idea how long it was before he was once more grabbed and thrown to the side, this time falling in a battered heap on the bed. Lio became pinned onto his stomach, unable to escape with the man’s entire weight on his back. His pajama pants were ripped down to his knees, and the feeling of Ellias trying to shove his way inside him had him flailing on the mattress, legs and arms lashing out uselessly. 

“Stop fucking moving!” he hissed, before roughly pushing Lio’s body further into the sheets, as if suddenly disgusted. “God dammit! You’re too tight to do this dry, _fucking hell-_ ”

“Ellias, please stop. _Please_ !” Lio pleaded. He was starting to sob, his terrified mind knowing how to do nothing else in his horror. “I’m sorry, okay?! Please, please, stop! Don’t _do_ this, _please!_ ” He felt most of Ellias weight shift as he leaned over to the nightstand. Digging down deep, Lio found one last burst of strength and surged upwards, attempting to buck the man off of him, or at the very least throw him off balance.

But it did neither of those things, Ellias outweighed him too much for the attempt to be anything more than a mild obstacle.

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” Ellias growled. It reached Lio’s ears like a mocking laugh. “You can be at every single goddamn disadvantage and you’re still stupid enough to try it. You’re such a sore loser.”

The blood in Lio’s ears roared like an engine. A slick finger was roughly forced into him, his arms stung from the fighting. 

“If you don’t want this to be any harder than it needs to be, then I’d suggest that you be good and still.”

The engine grew louder, his arms no longer felt like they could move. Barbed wire and shadowed hands holding him down in place. With a snap of his hips, Ellias was-

Lio choked on his breath, in so much shock that he was unable to make a noise until a brutal pace was set. His whole body burned. Everything around him grew bright like over-exposed neon, melting together like muddy watercolors. Everything he heard was too loud to be distinguishable from one another, save for his own heart ramming into his chest like a piston and his name being disgustingly moaned, louder and louder. Lio, Lio, Lio, Lio,

“ _LIO!_ ”

Galo awoke to screaming. He was on his feet in seconds, slamming open his door and rushing in the room so fast that he completely missed the lightswitch, slapping the wall blindly to no effect. Lio’s state shook him out of rational thought. He could see him sitting up, just screaming rawly; a horrid noise Galo never thought the man could make.

“Lio!” he called. He started to reach out for him, but changed his mind at the last second and scrambled to turn on the bedside table lamp instead. “Lio!”

The dim light flickered on, illuminating Lio’s form, curled in on himself, hands gripping at his head, howling. Galo grasped ahold of his shoulders and the change was instantaneous. Lio’s head snapped up and for a moment Galo thought that he was looking at him, wide-eyed and terrified, but in the next moment he recognized that Lio didn’t see him at all, but he felt his hands on him just fine. 

It was probably a “no” that Lio shouted, but it was expressed with such animalistic panic that it was barely comprehensible. He shoved and kicked and pressed himself against the corner, shaking and wailing. Galo heard more “no”s and “don’t”s and “please”s fall out of Lio’s mouth in a matter of seconds than he thinks he’d ever heard in the totality of all his life. 

“Lio, please, it’s okay!” He narrowly dodged a few swings and kicks. “It’s me! You’re okay!”

“ _Get away from me!_ ” he seethed loudly. Galo considered the situation improving if he could understand a full sentence through the frenzy, so he did as he was told and backed away. Lio's body did not relax, and his scorn was palpable as he glared back at him through burning tears, stare accusatory and filled with disdain. His breathing was still heaving and water-logged, but he was no longer shouting in blind fear. 

Galo took the lull in activity as an opportunity to back up further to the lightswitch, realizing that even with the lamp Galo likely appeared as a faceless silhouette. Lio’s breathing started to hitch again with the new movement, but it dissipated quickly after light was brought into the room. Lio blinked against the sudden change, squinting at Galo as he tried to bring him into focus quickly.

“It’s me, Lio,” Galo told him, gently approaching once more. “Okay? Just me.”

“...Galo?” 

Said man relaxed considerably. “Yeah, that’s me. Number one firefighting idiot in the world.” He laughed weakly before a grimace took over his expression. “Are you okay?”

Lio looked around, as if confused, breathing ragged. He was still braced against the corner of the room at the head of the bed, huddled and small. Lio figured he must look horribly pathetic but he was too wound up to be embarrassed.

“Wha-what happened?”

Galo rubbed at the back of his neck, looking down at him with concern. “I think you had a nightmare?”

“I-” Lio’s gaze searched the bed, as if the disheveled sheets held the answer he was looking for. “I- I did, yeah.” His whole body went considerably more slack, but it was hardly a relaxing motion. It was more akin to a kite without wind, all the adrenaline keeping him upright leaving his body like valuable air. 

Galo sat down on the bed, at first thinking he could guide the smaller man to lean on him instead of slumping against the headboard, but he stopped himself short. It was probably best not to touch him right now. “Do you remember what it was about?”

Lio closed his eyes, hair sticking to his face, dampened with sweat. He nodded.

Galo’s frown deepened. “Do you... want to talk about it?”

The question was met with silence. Galo’s clasped hands gripped each other tightly as his stare on the floor hardened.

 _‘I fucked this up,’_ he thought. _‘I fucked this up so bad. This is what you do Galo, you push too hard and people resent you. You’re overbearing and annoying and useless and stupid and-’_

A pressing against his body interrupted his thoughts. He looked over to see a despondent looking Lio, headbutting into his shoulder, hands grasping loosely at the side of his tank top.

Galo blinked. “Lio?”

His response was another weak headbutt, softly pushing his shoulder. Galo, puzzled, let his body follow the motion and allowed himself to be moved back. He had to put his hands behind him for support as he leaned, but, strangely, this is what Lio seemed to want. 

Lio let go of his clothes and crawled over carefully. He settled himself on the other side of Galo’s now open lap, Lio’s legs draped across his thighs. The firefighter stiffened when arms wrapped around him, Lio’s soft hair smelling like Galo’s shampoo resting on his front. He watched the other man curiously, whose blank stare seems to go for miles. Tentatively, Galo shifted his weight, leaning a bit more forward so that he could slowly, carefully, gently, wrap his arms around Lio.

Gradually, his dead expression dropped. His eyes crinkled at the corners and welled up. He turned his head, burying his face in Galo’s chest. The hands grasping at his shirt between his shoulder blades tightened as he took in a shuddering breath and cried.

Galo gathered him tighter to his body, pulling him into his lap fully. “Oh, Lio…”

“I’m so _tired_ ,” came the whispered reply, barely caught underneath the shaky sound of tears spilled on his shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Lio, there’s nothing to be sorry about, okay? It’s okay to cry. Let it out.”

Lio shook his head. “I’ve been acting so insane.”

“I get it, okay? I know it’s a lot to deal with right now. Everyone has a limit.”

“I hit that a long time ago,” Lio expressed sadly. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you, told anyone. I just thought- I was letting people down and I don’t know what to do and it just kept piling up and now everyone is angry with me-”

“No one is angry with you?” The very thought baffled Galo. “Everyone is worried about you, we want to help. Is that what you’ve been thinking?”

“Meis and Gueira kicked me out of the apartment.”

“They wanted you to be safe.”

“I’ve been acting like a dick to them.”

“I’m sure they understand.”

“Your teammates think I’m unstable.” 

“I _know_ they understand too.”

“The other Burnish want me replaced.”

“I-” Galo paused. That was a new one. “What?”

Lio buried his head further, nearly muffling his voice as if he didn’t want to hear his own words. “I overheard a few conversations when I was hopping from couch to couch. Enough to know it’s not just a passing thought with only a handful of individuals. A few officials have already used this as an excuse to delay or outright shoot some proposals down. I’m making the effort look bad. They’re talking about putting someone else in charge of Burnish relations.”

Galo’s hug grew stronger. “Lio, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know about that.”

“I know,” Lio responded softly. “My mother hates me too.”

“Well… that’s…”

“She could’ve used this to kick me out of the will, but she values the whole of the Fotia name over herself.” A dark chuckle left him. “She’s got that going for her, at least. She decided to do what she did to save face at the cost of making it harder on herself. She resents me for it.”

“But you’re disclaiming the will,” Galo reasoned. “She got what she wanted.”

Lio shrugged. “That’s not the only thing she hates me for.”

“That’s not your fault though…”

“And my father went out of his way to take a swipe at me from the afterlife.”

“That’s also not your fault.”

“And you’re treating me differently.”

Galo pursed his lips, unsure. “That’s…” It was pointless to deny it. “That’s not because I’m angry with you.”

“You seemed pretty angry with me earlier,” Lio pointed out bitterly before his tone fell again. “But you deserved to be. I was being shortsighted and… I just didn’t want to think that….”

Galo sighed, adjusting himself so that he could get a better look at the other. “I want you to be happy, but I didn’t want to push you. I didn’t want you to think that I was being controlling or pushy or annoying so I did either this flip-flop thing or nothing at all. You told me the flip-flopping was confusing you and yeah, I can totally see that, and then Remi and Aina told me that doing nothing was dumb, in their own way, and I just got so frustrated tonight that I took it out on you. Which is shitty, since I never wanted to hurt you again so-”

“Again?” Lio looked up at that, perplexed. “You haven’t ever hurt me.”

“I handed you over to the Freeze Force-” Galo choked a bit as his shirt collar was roughly grabbed and yanked downward, finding himself nose-to-nose with Lio. He was still teary-eyed, but his glare was smoldering. 

“Galo, are you trying to tell me that for nearly two years you’ve been feeling guilty over something I literally planned and wanted you to do?”

A single bead of sweat rolled down the side of Galo’s face. “Well,” he started nervously. “I also helped turn over a lot of other Burnish before that too…” he trailed off somberly. He really did feel horrible about that.

Lio’s eyes went wide. “I know you didn’t understand what you were doing. I never blamed you for that.”

“What about when we first met?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “You seemed to think I knew! Or that I should’ve known. Or at least that no one could be so stupid to not know what was really going on.”

Lio hesitated. “...I never blamed you for that after that day then.” He released the tank top, smoothing it over with his hands. “I know that I’m not Burnish anymore, and I know how learning everything that you have has made me seem more fragile, and I know how I’ve been acting hasn’t helped prove otherwise, but…” Slender hands moved up and around Galo’s neck, running themselves through his hair. “I have never once thought that you could hurt me, okay? Tell me what I can do to have you believe me.”

Galo looked away, thoughts muddled. “I… I don’t know if there’s anything you can do. You told me that you trusted…” With great effort, he managed to get out the addresser without too much fury sinking through. “...that guy. You said that you had no idea how he really was. How can you be so sure that I’m not like that? How can you trust me?”

Lio’s hands fell down to Galo’s shoulder, head falling forward into his chest once more. “I was dreaming... A nightmare, rather, about the first time he…”

“...hit you?” Galo could feel Lio shake his head. “Oh…”

Lio took in a deep breath. “I just laid there after. Everything hurt like I had been crushed. It felt like all my bones were broken and all my muscles were torn. I don’t know how long it was before he shoved me off the bed, saying I sounded like a broken record. It took me a bit to understand what he meant. I kept mumbling to myself, my voice too spent to say it any louder. I kept begging for him to stop, but it was over already. I just couldn’t stop myself. I just kept going, until he kicked me off.

“I tried to stand, but I couldn’t. The farthest I could go was to the bathroom and I passed out as soon as I hit the tile. When I came to, he was yelling at me.”

Galo thought he felt more tears leave the man in his lap, but Lio’s voice did not waver. 

“He grabbed me, tried to pull me up, but I was too hurt so he just dragged me along, like I was a loathsome dog that wasn’t housebroken. He pulled me to the bed like it was a mess I made on purpose. There was-” Lio shuddered. Galo hugged him tighter. “So much blood staining the sheets. It looked like he stabbed me and left me to bleed there before trying to cover it up. He _screamed_ at me like it was my fault and I was so hurt and confused and hideously upset that I believed him. I had to. ...I stopped trying after that. I just stopped fighting. I tried to just bear it. I gave up.”

Lio’s hands found Galo’s face, tilting it gently to make sure he was meeting his eye. 

“Do you honestly think that you could ever be so cruel to me, Galo? To make me feel so horrifically insignificant like that?”

“No...” Galo breathed. “But that night, when I asked if you were afraid of me, you said ‘it’s mostly not that.’ I-”

“I’m _not_ afraid of you,” Lio asserted, voice stronger now, tears finally starting to dry up. “I’m afraid of _us_ and what it means to be an _us._ ” Galo looked like he didn’t understand, so Lio went on. “When we saved everyone, when we burned as we did, I felt _so_ connected to you. I felt something in you that I never felt before and I felt something within _us_ that shook me to the core. It felt like I had known you for eternity.”

“You felt that too?”

“Of course I did,” Lio huffed. “Did you think you were the only one?”

“I don’t know,” Galo admitted. “You never said anything and you rebuffed all my attempts afterwards to be closer so…”

“It’s because I was terrified, Galo,” Lio explained. “All my life I have never been able to trust anyone. I have never had anyone to rely on; not my family, I had no friends, and the one time I thought I had finally found someone I could have something like that with turned out so, so wrong. I trust Gueira and Meis with my life because I had to at first, I never even noticed when I started seeing them as more than just teammates, but with you, I- It’s so different from that.”

Lio’s eyes captured Galo’s, who felt his heart jump up into his throat.

“Galo, I- I’m so scared of what it means for me to lean and rely on you, but losing you terrifies me even more. I didn’t know- ...I really do- I-!” 

Galo’s palms were sweating, his body burned, heart pounding in his chest. He honestly did not think anything could be better than hearing an “I love you” after all this time. It’s what Galo thought he wanted all along, but those words did not come. Nothing could prepare him for the lighting-strike feeling that exploded his soul apart like the best kind of fireworks after hearing what Lio said in their place, the unexpected words bursting out of him with such sincerity and want.

“Galo, I _need_ you!”

Galo surged forward, arms holding the other strongly as if he were the only thing stopping him from falling. Lio’s hands were grasping the sides of his face, arching into his body to mold together perfectly. Their lips locked together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

When they finally separated, Lio spoke again breathlessly, “Stay with me.”

“I will,” Galo told him. “I promise.”

With shining eyes, Lio laced their fingers together. “Tonight too. Don’t leave me.” 

Galo nodded, smile beaming brighter than the sun that had yet to rise. “I won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lio: How do you know what’s good for me?!
> 
> Galo: That’s my o p i n i o n ! ! !
> 
> \---
> 
> “The ability to remain sober and gracious is indeed a form of mild insanity”


	10. Strange

“Galo, I am so, so sorry.”

“S’fine’d, Lio”

“It’s not fine! You’re bleeding!”

“Yea, bud, ya’didn’d do id on purpose, soo…” Galo leveled his head and turned away from the bathroom mirror to face a fretful Lio. Removing the blood-soaked wad of tissues from his face, he gave the other a bright grin. “See? All bett-” A waterfall of red gushed from his nose once more, adding to the lovely abstract stains on his tank top. Lio stared back, horrified. “Alright, tipping our head back again…”

“Is it broken?” he stressed. “We should get you checked out. We can reschedule-”

“No!” Galo pointed at Lio dramatically, startling the other man. “You told me yourself last night!  _ ‘Don’t let me be stupid, Galo!’ _ ”

Lio folded his arms and huffed. “Are you going to add an accent - which is atrocious, by the way - to your impression of me from now on?” He was annoyed, but admittingly, that  _ is _ what he said wrapped up in Galo’s arms, already half-asleep when Galo, suddenly filled with doubt or perhaps still feeling guilty about telling Lio what to do, made mention that he didn’t need to go to the appointment if he thought it was too soon.

“Don’t do that,” he muttered angrily, snuggling in closer. “You know this is good for me. Don’t let me be so stupid.” 

When Galo awoke Lio had turned around in his arms, still asleep. He thought it’d be cute to place a tiny kiss on the back of his neck with a whispered “good morning.” He thought it’d be enough to gently rouse the other into the waking world. What happened instead, was that Lio awoke a lot like how one emerged from underwater after nearly running out of air, seizing up in his arms with a single gasp before an elbow flew back into his nose.

“We can get it checked out after your appointment,” Galo suggested. “Even if it is broken there’s not much anyone can do for it anyways, it’s not like it’s a matter of ‘time is of the essence!’ or whatever.” Upon seeing Lio’s distressed expression reflected back at him in the mirror, he added on, “Of course it probably isn’t broken.”

“I can’t believe I hit you,” he groaned, hands on his head. 

“You hit me lots of times when we spar!” 

“That’s different!” Lio’s small frown turned into one of worry. “Maybe I should go back to sleeping on the couch.”

“No!” Galo whined, pitching the tissues into the wastebin. “It’ll be okay! We can just go slower. Here, look!” He scurried back to the bedroom, completely ignoring Lio’s protests pointing out that he was still bleeding a little. 

Flopping down on the bed, Galo grabbed the nearest pillow and pulled it close to him. “Look, see? We can have a pillow in between us for a little while until I learn how to not wake you up wrong. We can still hold hands and I can play with your hair like this too.”

Lio wanted to still be annoyed, but Galo looked so childishly giddy about the idea, like a little girl at her first sleepover, that he found himself shaking his head with a small laugh. “I think the issue is more aligned with my behavior rather than yours.”

“Well, you and Meis and Gueira already told me not to sneak up on you guys forever ago as, like, a Burnish thing, so really I should’ve known better by now. But! This way is still good ‘cause if you get spooked again you’ll probably smack the pillow before me.”

“I’d rather not try and hit you at all.”

“Maybe you can talk to the therapist about that today,” Galo suggested. Lio only hummed in response, still unsure about the idea. “Is there anything you can think of now that might help?” 

Lio thought about it for a moment, before pointing to the open end of the bed decisively. “I have to sleep on that side.”

“No problem!” Galo declared. “The wall make you feel closed in? We could put the bed in the middle of the room too if you think that would help.”

“I don’t want you rearranging your whole room on my behalf.”

“I really don’t mind!” he insisted, making his way to his feet. “Just give it some thought. In the meantime, let’s go have some breakfast.”

Lio’s face scrunched up. “Galo, we can’t go out with you looking like that; You look like you fought a streetlight and lost. Can you even eat and breathe at the same time in your state?”

“You worry too much!”

Galo was half-right, as breakfast wasn’t a complete disaster by any means, but even cleaned up with some spare gauze and medical supplies Galo had on hand, people still looked at the man like he tried to catch a football with his face. It was a nice distraction from the people blatantly staring at Lio for the unfortunately separate reason.

“It’ll get better.” The reassurance came in the middle of Galo’s own story, telling him about how Lucia had him dangling upside-down last week, the two trying to change a lightbulb affixed to the high ceilings of the Burning Rescue garage like the set-up of a bad joke. “Once your side of the story gets out there, people won’t be staring like this anymore. Except for, you know, to be like: ‘whoa! Look at those two hotties! Unbelievable! Stunning!’ You know, the good stuff.”

Lio chuckled at Galo’s optimistic display, but still felt a tinge of doubt. “It sort of feels like how it was two years ago. Right after the Blaze.”

Galo nodded in understanding, munching on a strip of bacon thoughtfully. “Well, they aren’t glaring or throwing things at you this time around.”

“I suppose that is an improvement.”

“And the more they hear your story, the less staring there will be!” Lio hummed noncomitedly and Galo’s grin fell. “Have you thought any more about going public?”

Lio shrugged, too stiff to be indifferent. “I gave the dates to your lieutenant only yesterday, I have time to weigh my options.” 

“You don’t want to.” Galo concluded.

“I never said that,” he argued lightly, stabbing into a piece of stuffed french toast.

“You didn’t have to. It might as well be written across your face.”

“Ah, as obvious as your broken nose then?”

Galo’s hand went up to his face, as if to shield his bandaged nose from further insult. “It’s not broken!”

“It looks pretty broken.” 

“Well, your nose is made up of cartilage anyways,” Galo reasoned with the air of jest arrogance. “So, technically, it cannot be broken.” He punctuated his point with a childish flash of his tongue.

Lio watched, an amused smirk unraveling on his face. “Wasn’t aware that cartilage could never be broken.” Galo's expression dropped and Lio could practically see the gears clunking together in his head. “What amazing indestructible material this is - how ever could I go my whole life without knowing of this marvel of the human body.”

“Well, I- Not like… bones can be broken… you know? So.” Defeated, Galo crossed his arms and pouted, sinking back into his chair. “Shut up. You know what I meant.”

Lio almost giggled. “I do, but it’s cute to watch you get all worked up.”

“You remember those words next time I tease you,” Galo warned. His expression then softened into something more matching to his concern. “If you don’t want to do it, then don’t do it.”

“It’s not that.”

“So you do want to do it?”

“Oh, no. I absolutely abhor the idea.” 

Galo let out a small whine of “Then don’t do it!” but Lio continued on over him, thought unfinished.

“Pugna has some good points, and the others I have discussed the matter with tend to agree. The logic behind the decision is understandable and well enough. Meanwhile, the only reasoning I can conjure for not doing it is just ‘I don’t want to’ and nothing else.” With a frustrated look at the other man, Lio added, “It’s not very sound reasoning at all.”

“Sometimes reasoning doesn’t have to be sound.”

Lio squinted, mood souring. “Somehow I knew you would say something like that.”

“Somehow, you don’t look too happy with me saying that,” Galo replied with a lopsided smile. “I’m agreeing with you here! Your emotions are valid!”

Lio rolled his eyes at the cliche. 

“Look, sometimes ‘I don’t want to’ is enough,” Galo went on. “What about it scares you?”

“I’m not scared,” he answered too quickly. 

“No?”

Lio hesitated. “Well… In any case, I think I just don’t want to do it because it’s… difficult. It’d be easier just to keep it to myself, maybe bring it up in court, I don’t know. But there is the issue of even being allowed to proceed with the case. Officials already have a negative perception of me and this all certainly isn’t doing me any favors, so maybe getting people on my side will make things easier in the future, but all I keep thinking about is the now and…”

“And it scares you,” Galo finished.

Lio stared back quietly, neither confirming or denying anything in his silence. When he finally spoke again, it was after the waitress came to take their empty plates. 

“I don’t care what other people think of me,” he explained. “Truely, I don’t, but the Burnish are a different story. They need guidance. Maybe not as much anymore, but sometimes there is still overlap from the times where the fear and hopelessness hung over all of our heads. When it gets too overwhelming people become lost and they need help to get back on course, even if that help is simply seeing someone stand up on their behalf. I am more than happy to be that person. If I show even the slightest amount of weakness, if people see that side of me, how can I be of any help to them then?”

Galo frowned pensively, thinking it over. His fingers tapped a seemingly random beat on the table top, as if the action helped level his thoughts. “I think,” he said finally, carefully. “That showing weakness helps make people realize that you’re human. Not just a face or a name, but an actual person.”

Lio scoffed. “Being human is a part of the problem.”

Lio had just been called back into the office for his appointment when Galo got the email. He must’ve made a face, because Lio only took one look at him and asked what was wrong.

Galo debated waiting to tell him, but quickly decided that it wouldn’t be right to do so. “Remi’s got the 911 call.”

“What? Already?” Lio’s expression went from shocked to pinched worry in a matter of seconds. “I wasn’t expecting him to have it so fast…”

“I know,” he sympathizes, before adding on with hesitance: “He says he has two call files?”

“Two?” Suddenly, Lio’s eyes sparked with recognition. “That’s right. I called them and then they called back when the line dropped.”

Galo nodded, before flashing a shy smile to the woman holding the door open, still waiting for Lio to head back with her. As if he just remembered she was there, Lio rushed to apologize to her.

“Sorry, I’ll be just a minute-”

“You don’t have to make a decision right now, Lio,” Galo reminded him. 

“No, I-” Lio sucked in a sharp breath, steeling himself as he stood up. “The best plans I ever had were improvised. Send them to my lawyer and if she thinks it’s a good idea to release, then tell Remi to do it.”

“Are… Are you sure?” he questioned, worriedly skeptical. “Don’t you want to listen to them first? Or you know,” he gestured to the woman, who smiled kindly in turn. “Talk it over?”

“No.” he answered resolutely.

“He also said he got the body cam footage.”

Lio hesitated a bit at that, only just barely visible on his features. “Same thing,” he pressed. “If she thinks it’s a good idea, than it is.”

Galo observed him. His shoulders were tense, but they were rolled back. His arms were folded, but they weren’t held tight against his body. His expression wasn’t at all happy, but he looked determined. This was the Lio Galo knew, the one that unapologetically took up space and spoke with certainty regardless if he had it or not. Galo was happy to see his return.

“Yes, sir!”

Lio smiled. It was only a small one, but it was more than enough for Galo. That is, until he was left alone in the waiting room. 

He fiddled with the phone nervously. He already forwarded it as directed, but now…

Lio didn’t say that he didn’t want Galo to listen to it. Definitely not, but he also didn’t say that Galo could. He knew he should just wait and ask him if he minded. He knows that it is the only way to make sure there would be no fight about it later. Still, the unanswered question hung in the air and rang in his head.

_ “...Does that mean you wouldn’t have told me?”  _ He had asked that first night.  _ “If this hadn’t been… the way it is, would you just have... never told me?” _

Lio never answered him, and even though everything was fine between them now (He thinks? Maybe better than fine?), after how Galo reacted - or rather how Lio  _ thought  _ Galo reacted - he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer if it was going to be what he thought it would be. 

_ ‘Remi’s heard it,’ _ Galo reasoned.  _ ‘And a bunch of strangers are about to hear it. Of course it’s to be expected that I would hear it too.’ _

He knew he should just wait, it’s the only way to be sure.

Galo dug his earbuds out of his pocket.

The first thing he heard was the dispatcher. A woman reciting the dull opening of the emergency line that was immediately coupled with banging noises; muffled, but loud.

_ “Police- I need the police.” _ The voice was so shaky that Galo hardly recognized it as Lio’s before his accent shift. He could hear someone speaking- no, yelling in the background, but like the banging it was too muffled to make it out.

_ “What’s the address you need the police at?” _

Lio starts to get out a series of numbers before a set of bangs come out in rapid succession, as if someone was frustratingly trying to get an old TV to work. After that Lio’s voice pauses. Galo can’t even hear him breathing.

_ “Sir? What’s the address?” _

Lio starts up again. He’s quieter this time, but he manages to get out the address despite the continued yelling in the background. Lio confirms the line when the dispatcher repeats it back.

_ “And what is your name?” _

_ “Lio Fotia.”  _ Galo’s heart clenches.

_ “What is happening there?” _

_ “My boyfriend is trying to break down the door…”  _ He’s still speaking in a whisper, but his tone is tight, shame rising over the top of fear.

_ “Into your house?” _

_ “N-No, we live together. I’m-”  _ A loud  _ crack  _ cut him off.

_ “Sir?”  _ Smaller cracks and crashes can be heard, before a sharp  _ bang,  _ way too clear on the line to be anywhere too far from the phone, punctures Lio’s small gasp.

_ “Sir, are you alright?”  _ For a second, silence is the only answer. A sudden  _ clang  _ of something metal and light is heard dropping and rattling against what Galo can only assume, from the sound of it, is the floor.

Some rustling, then the phone is dropped. Galo knows the sound of a phone falling too well from the days before Lucia was given a headset. Memories like that are quickly obliterated by the sound of Lio, quickly begging, pitch in his voice rising steadily in desperation.

_ “Wait, wait, wait, waitwaitwait WAIT!” _

The sounds of a struggle; sounds of quick movement splitting open the air and of clothes trying to catch up. 

_ “Let go of me!” _

A new voice emerged in a low growl.  _ “Get out of there, now!”  _

_ “No!” _

A short and light scrape, followed by a painful  _ twanging  _ noise is made against the receiver. If Galo had to guess, it sounded like the phone slid across somewhere and hit something.

_ “Sir?” _

Silence again, but it didn’t last long. Something heavy was thrown or dropped - Galo couldn’t tell, but Lio let out a pained sound at it. It may have been him that was tossed aside. More shuffling, the phone’s receiver right up against something else. 

_ “What did you d-” _ The mp3 stopped. The last thing heard was a furious voice blanketed over fearful hesitance. 

Galo sat there for a bit. His body burned, itching to spring into action. An impossible wish. With great strength he played the next file.

It started with a dial tone. Three rings.

_ “Hello!” _ The jovial greeting took Galo by surprise. So much so that he struggled to place it. He knew it was Ellias, it  _ had  _ to be, just as it must be his voice in the previous file. Somehow, they did not sound at all alike. 

Galo had looked at the file names and saw that it was named for both the date and time - counting the time the first call took, Galo reasoned that barely a minute passed between the two of them, yet the change in mood seemed so drastic.

_ “This is 911 dispatch returning a dropped call made from this line.” _

_ “Ooh, that. Yeah.” _ He laughed. It was a nervous one, but not the brand of nervous that comes from someone stalling for time as they thought up a lie. No, this was the nervous laugh of someone having to explain a dirty double-entendre.  _ “I’m sorry about that. My boyfriend gets confused easily. He’s on medication for it, but sometimes he has these paranoid episodes… I’m really sorry to bother you.” _

_ “He said someone was trying to break down the door. Was he talking about you?” _

Another laugh. Galo felt his stomach curdle.  _ “Yeah, that was me. He locked himself in the bathroom and was acting completely out of it. I was crazy worried, but he’s fine, I’m fine. Everyone is fine now.”  _ No matter how hard he strained, Galo could not hear anything from Lio.  _ “Again, I’m really sorry to cause trouble like this.” _

_ “We have officers on the way for a welfare check.” _

Ellias didn’t miss a beat.  _ “Yeah, sure, of course. We’ll be here! Is it okay if I hang up now?” _

_ “Yes. You-”  _ Line drops.

The next two files are mp4s and of the same event from the point of view from two different officers. Galo wasn’t sure if Remi cut it to where it needed to be or if it came that way, but in any case, they both started right as they were pulling up to the home he recognized from Marco’s video. 

The officers walked up to the stoop and one slammed a clenched fist hard on the door, loud and aggressive. A friendly blond face answered.

_ “Hello, hi, sorry about all this,”  _ he greeted.

_ “Are you Leo Fosha?”  _ one of the officer’s grunts.

_ “Ah, no, that’s my boyfriend, would you like for me to get him?” _

The same officer made a noncommittal sound, which Ellias took to mean yes.

_ “Lio!” _ The call for the other is light, almost sing-song, as if he were calling a kid home for dinner.

Galo was not prepared for how he looked. The Lio he knew looked young and slender, but the Lio on the screen appeared even more so. His sharp jaw, broader shoulders, and the creases under his eyes that he had now were all signs of his current age that were considerably dampened on-screen, if not completely non-existent. Lio always looked younger than his real age, but to describe him in the videos as anything other than  _ a child  _ would be a bold faced lie. 

Ellias was head and shoulders above him and nearly double his size across. His hands covered both of Lio’s shoulders completely as he guided him into place in front of him. The teenager now had two towering men in front of him and one more to his back. Galo could see him shake.

_ “Are you Leo Fosha?”  _ The officer providing the right camera angle asked gruffly.

Lio, looking frazzled, visibly hesitated.  _ “N-No, I’m-” _

_ “You’re not Leo Fosha?”  _ The left camera officer interrupted.

Swallowing and looking off to the side anxiously, Lio answered.  _ “Yes, that’s me. It’s Fotia.” _

_ “Leo Fotia?” _

_ “Yes.” _

The right officer pulled out a notebook and started scribbling something down.  _ “Did you call 911?” _

_ “...Yes.” _

_ “And are you in any danger?” _

Lio's eyes went wide, gaze flicking back and forth between the cops.  _ “You’re… You’re going to ask me now? I mean… right here?” _

The Right Officer sighed in annoyance, putting his notebook away as the Left Cop made a small groan impatiently.  _ “Is that a problem?”  _

Galo could see the panic in Lio’s eyes and the fear in his expression. He could see how he shook underneath an obviously tightening grip on his shoulders. Galo’s blood absolutely  _ boiled  _ at the scene the men were clearly ignoring - Lio might as well have had a loaded gun jammed into his spine.

_ “No… No, it’s fine. I’m…” _

_ “Well?”  _ Left Officer barked, startling the surrounded man.  _ “Are you in any danger?” _

_ “...No.” _

Officer on the right let out another exasperated sigh as Ellias interjected.  _ “I’m sorry about all this. He didn’t mean anything of it; he’s sick and was just confused. He panicked - an honest mistake.” _

_ “Make sure it doesn’t happen again,”  _ Right Cop directed at Ellias. The other one leaned down to Lio’s level; a difficult task to manage considering how he seemed to be shrinking in on himself with each passing second.

_ “Misusing the lines is a serious offense. You take time and valuable energy from people who  _ really _ need the help. You could cause someone some serious harm or even kill someone by doing this, you understand me?” _

_ “...okay…”  _ came the whispered reply.  _ “I’m very sorry. It won’t happen anymore.” _

_ “Good.” _

_ “Thank you for your time, officers,”  _ Ellias offered, already in the process of pulling Lio in and shutting the door.  _ “Again, I am very sorry for the trouble. Have a good day!” _

_ “You as well,”  _ Left Cop replied. The camera views bounced along as the two walked back to their car. The right officer’s camera was the driver and his view quickly became the inside of the vehicle and nothing more. 

The left officer however took pause once he got his door open. He turned back to the house where Galo could see Ellias, standing at the window, quarter-turned, looking back at something with a twisted expression as he grabbed the opposing curtains with both hands. Once he saw the cop his face changed back to the apologetic, disarming smile as before. It happened so fast that Galo could not see a moment of transition expression at all, no matter how many times he rewatched that second, no matter how much he forced himself to not even blink.

Ellias nodded to the other man and yanked the curtains closed. Once both cops were back in their squad car, they took to the road, already discussing another topic entirely. Thirty seconds later, the file closed, both clips ending in the same spot.

\---

Galo wishes he could say he spent the rest of his waiting time reading a book, or watching cute animal videos, or even napping, but no. He spent an undetermined but seemingly long time staring down at the floor as if he wanted it to burst into flames until Remi texted him to let him know the files were live. From then on, Galo spent his remaining time on Twitter, obsessively scrolling and refreshing and reading over every reply he could get his eyes on. There were, of course, a number of voices claiming the files were fake (some even providing evidence of it’s “debunking”), but for the most part Remi was right, the tides were turning.

The sound of the door opening scared him so bad that he threw his phone up with a yelp. Lio jumped as well, though with significantly less dramatic flair, and then chuckled lightly.

“Did you doze off?” he asked with mirth. “It was a pretty late night.”

“I really don’t need a lot of sleep anyways,” Galo replied lightly, standing up to shove the phone back in his pocket. 

Lio let out a hum on his way to the receptionist desk but didn’t reply any further. He seemed not to notice Galo’s nervous shifting as he waited.

“How did it go?” he asked once they were on their way out of a building.

“Fine,” Lio replied flatly. “Fine, I think.”

“Yeah? You talk about a lot of things?”

“Not really. Just ‘get to know you’ type of questions.”

“You sound kinda out of it.”

Lio sighed. “I’m just..tired, for some reason. Physically, I mean. It doesn’t make any sense - all I did was sit.”

“We can head back then and take a nap.”

“Galo, we have to get your nose checked out-”

The firefighter waved him off. “Don’t worry about it! I can do that later, or even call in a favor with one of my EMT buddies and they can do a house call. Let’s head on home then and you can rest up!” Galo was on his bike and ready to take off before he noticed that Lio had stopped short on the sidewalk. “What’s wrong?”

The other shook his head, clearing his thoughts. “Nothing,” he said.

\---

“I notice you keep referring to it as ‘Meis’ and Gueira’s flat,’” the therapist commented. “Do you reside somewhere else?”

“No, I live there too,” Lio answered.

“So why not call it ‘my flat?”

Lio’s lips pursed into a tight line. Despite the straightforward and basic nature of the questions he had been asked, he somehow felt like he was caught in a lie he now needed to explain away. “Because… It isn’t mine. It’s Meis’ and Gueira’s flat. I just live there.”

The woman nodded and wrote something down on her notes and Lio immediately felt like he had done something wrong. “You’re nervous.”

“No, I’m not,” Lio lied, an automatic response spoken without conscious thought or effort. 

“This isn’t a test, there are no wrong answers.”

“Dr. Agatha-”

“‘Areti’ is just fine, Lio.” she corrected with a soft smile. “Would you like to see them?”

Confused, Lio asked, “‘Them’ what?”

“My notes.”

“Is-” he started, taken aback. “Is that allowed?”

The woman laughed, like the light ringing of a bell. “Of course it is! You can see what I’m writing any time you wish.” 

She offered the notepad up to him. For a moment, Lio did not move, studying the other carefully. Just as she was about to draw back, he cautiously leaned forward to take the pad of paper. Once it was in his grasp, he squinted at her, suspicious of her motives. She only nodded at him, waiting patiently.

Lio flipped a single page back to the beginning of her notes and scanned the lines. The information he found there was boring, basic facts about himself. His name, his age, his birthdate… on the next page, however, he found something that gave him pause.

“‘Possible PTSD,’” he read aloud. 

Areti nodded. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It’s not an official diagnosis, of course, but knowing what little I do of you and your situation, I think it’s likely. It’s the case for most former Burnish, in fact.”

Lio narrowed his eyes at her. “So you think you know me enough to call me crazy already, huh.”

“Not at all,” she answered evenly. “I simply have it noted there so that I can keep it in mind. It’s so that I can better adjust myself and communicate with you in a way you find most comfortable.”

“Sounds manipulative,” he muttered.

“I suppose so,” she replied with a shrug. “But, if you put it that way, most social actions can be seen as manipulative one way or another.”

Lio hummed, neither in agreement nor protest as his eyes found another note worthy of his attention. “‘Cluster A personality type,’ what’s that mean?”

“It means your personality traits most line up, from what I’ve observed so far, with Cluster A. As before, it’s not an diagnosis by any means, I just have it noted there so that I can keep it in mind in regard to communication.”

“So? What does being in Cluster A entail?”

“There are three personality types in Cluster A: Paranoid, Schizoid, and Schizotypal.”

“So you think I’m Schizophrenic.” Lio spoke. He was unimpressed and borderline insulted, grip tightening over his own folded arms. “You think I’m making this up?”

His low-grade hostility was met with a patient tone. “I can see how the names of those types would have you believe that, but that’s not what they mean nor what I think, no. You seem to align with a few traits in the cluster, that’s all.”

“What kind of traits.”

“Well, mostly the Paranoid type, which is a type characterized by seeing the actions of other people as suspicious, malevolent, and something not to be trusted.” When she was met with silence, the therapist went on. “People that fall in this category are hyper-observant and guarded, with a tendency to restrict their emotions. They struggle to confide in others for fear that they will be exploited or deceived.”

Lio stared at the notepad on his lap, quiet and unmoving. After a few seconds of unreactive silence, he offered up the notes to her. “You can have this back now,” he mumbled.

“Have I embarrassed you?” Areti queried once the papers were back in her possession. “My apologies.”

“You haven’t,” he assured her. “I embarrassed myself. I apologise for being… accusatory."

"It's perfectly understandable, no apologies needed," she told him kindly. "Now, help me understand something else: what does 'home' mean to you?" 

"What do you mean?" Lio asked, fixing her with a puzzled look. "It's a roof over your head, isn't it?" 

"If that were the case, you wouldn't be so hesitant to call Meis' and Gueira's home your home too, correct?" 

"That's different," he insisted. "It's theirs, not mine. I just live there." 

"And what would make it yours?" 

Lio looked around the room, exasperated. "I don't know, paying rent, probably?" 

"Is that all?" Areti said, bemused. "I believe there's something more than paying for it that makes a house a home, don't you?" 

Lio didn't answer, brow furrowed as he mulled over the words. 

"How about this: when was the last time you lived somewhere that you considered your home?”

The man fell quiet once more, pondering. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, staring hard at the carpet as if it were the film screen playing back his memories. “Never,” he answered with finality.

This surprised the therapist. “Never?”

Lio shook his head. “Before now, I was on the run. We tried to build our own settlement, but it didn’t last long enough to put down roots. Before that I… Just took shelter wherever was safe and dry. Never staying for more than a few days at most. Prior to that I was living with Ellias - my, uh, boyfriend at the time, you probably heard about it?” 

Areti nodded, a sympathetic look in place. “It has become impossible to avoid that subject even if one tries.”

“I see…” Lio grimaced. “In any case, it was his house, not mine. Before that I lived in my parents’ home. Same situation.”

“You know,” she began. “Most people who grew up in their parents’ house still consider it their ‘home’ at some point or another even though they contributed nothing to it’s payment. You understand that, don’t you?”

“What’s your point?” Lio scoffed, leaning back into his couch with a huff.

“My point is that clearly there is something else at play here other than financial contribution that makes some place a home in your eyes,” she explained. “Safety, comfort, support…” She tilted her head, long hair falling out of her bun in small strands. “Does any of that sound about right?”

“I… I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

The woman frowned, the first negative expression Lio saw her make since his arrival. “I’m sorry you’ve been without such warmth for so long. It must’ve been hard for you.”

“I’ve been doing fine so far, so.”

Areti’s frown deepened, before rebounding back into a crooked, tiny smile. “Let’s move on to another topic, but before we do, I’d like to ask a favor of you, if that’s alright.”

Lio regarded her reluctantly, one eyebrow slowly raising in an unspoken question.

“I’d like for you to think of what someplace you would call ‘home’ would be. What would it include, what would it mean to you… that sort of thing.”

“Are you giving me homework?”

“In a sense, sure,” she giggled. “It’s just something to think about so we can discuss in more detail at our next session. It’d really help me get to know you better.”

“...I’ll consider it.”

\---

“What’s wrong?”

Lio shook his head, clearing his thoughts. “Nothing,” he said. He picked up his helmet and fitted it over his head. He snapped down the visor, making the barely-there smile impossible to see. “Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woman with PhD in Psychology: I suspect you may have some issues that bring you to my office today, namely how much distrust you have for people and how that hinders you.
> 
> Lio: Nonsense. I do not do that. I am perfectly ordinary and average. How dare.
> 
> Lio’s own traitorous brain, @-ing various memories at him: damn dude, this you?


	11. The Prince

“What do you have to say for yourself, huh?”

Lio stood there, hands handcuffed behind his back, head bowed. He sniffed - his nose running due to a combination of the cold and blood from when he was tackled to the ground.

The officer before him dug through the plastic bag, filthy and slightly torn. “Canned food, beef jerky, water bottles… Twinkies?” He looked back up at the bruised and battered young man in front of him, with his tattered clothes and too big shoes (the damn things are what caused him to stumble and fail to outrun the cop in the first place). “These are hardly things worth going to jail for, son.”

Lio’s body burned furiously. The idea that someone could be so ignorant to the situation so many people like himself were in was ridiculous. He was obviously homeless and starving, he wasn’t stealing food for fun - the very idea infuriated him.

The man - older, maybe in his mid-thirties - didn’t take his eyes off of Lio as he popped his passenger side door of his patrol car to toss in the bag of corner-store food. Lio still debated running. It was only a matter of time before they found out he was Burnish, and he would have no idea what they would do to him then. The man’s stray hand on his holster had him debating for too long.

“Get in,” he told him, holding the door to the back. Upon seeing Lio not budge he added with a sigh, “Don’t make me push you, kid.”

“Please.” The officer arched an eyebrow, but he seemed to be listening. “Please, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean- I’m just desperate. Please, just let me go.”

After a few beats, the cop responded: “What kinda accent is that?” Lio’s heart plummeted to his stomach. “Come on.” Lio’s arm was grabbed lightly and he was guided into the back seat. 

He barely noticed when the car started up, too busy sinking into the static buzz in his head. He could maybe blast out of there, make a run for it in the confusion, though he’s never tried to do anything like that before. He was doing his best to not do anything Burnish, not even to keep himself warm at night or heat up whatever food he managed to get his hands on. 

He didn’t want to be caught, and he definitely didn’t want to indulge in his new-found illness. Maybe if he didn’t use his powers they’d go away. Get bored of him and leave. He got the sense that the flames were alive _,_ somehow. They somehow manage to speak to him, in a sense. Telling him to burn brighter, burn taller, burn more and more at an incessant rate and every time he denied them their desire he felt himself grow colder and colder. It was distracting and maddening all at the same time. It was that very distraction coupled with the pain of his own stomach threatening to devour itself from the inside-out that led to Lio walking into the corner store, filling up a plastic bag with food, and attempting to just run out, all without noticing the very visible cop filling up an obnoxiously large styrofoam cup in the very same store. 

He barely noticed when the car slowed to a stop, but once he did he looked around and felt the flames swell in his heart in warning. Lio expected to be transported right to the police station, or perhaps to the corner store a few blocks back to return the items, but instead they were now parked in the middle of a large alleyway.

The man turned around, the grating of the divider separating them casting an almost stubbled-look across his square jaw. Lio could only shift nervously in his seat. 

“Listen kid, I can tell you’re in a tight spot and you didn’t mean any harm. As you said, you’re desperate.” 

Lio bit his lip and looked down at his feet, ashamed. When his eyes flicked back up he saw the officer was tilting himself in a way to look down at Lio’s feet as well. He thought it was to make sure that he wasn’t hiding anything down there, but when his stare dragged back up his body with purposeful cadence Lio’s insides twisted and he averted his gaze.

“I’m not a bad guy, you know? I’m just doing my job. You understand that, right?”

Lio nodded stiffly.

“And you did commit a crime. So I can’t just let you off that easily.”

Lio looked back to the other man. Dark eyes watched him carefully. He knew that look. He’s seen it before. Countless times at this point.

_“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”_

Lio felt sick at the memory, but he shoved it back down, swallowing the disgust like daggers dragging down his throat. Slowly, he drew his knees apart. 

“Please,” he spoke, a raspy, breathless sound. “I’ll do anything.”

There was no reaction from the other party at first. The officer did nothing but stare coldly at him until he pulled his gaze away to focus on his own vest. He started with that, unbuckling each strap with practice ease. When he stepped out of the car he undid his belt and laid it in the driver’s seat carefully, as if to not disturb the slumbering pistol in its holster.

The driver’s door was shut. The back seat door was opened, and the man slid in next to Lio, who must’ve had enough of a pitiful expression on his face to comment on.

“Don’t look so miserable, kid,” the man said with a laugh, closing the door behind him. “You’ll be fine.”

 _‘Fine?’_ Lio thought. He doubted that. He hadn’t been “fine” for so long he doubted he’d even know what “fine” felt like if he was beaten over the head with it.

He was directed to lay down, which he did, the rattling handcuffs pressing into his wrists and back sharply. 

“Have to leave those on, I’m afraid,” he commented. “Come on, lay on your side.” Lio twisted to obey, the tilt of the leather cushions making him slide neatly against the back of the seats. “Better?”

Lio nodded dumbly, keeping his eyes locked on the divider wall. Admittedly, it _was_ more comfortable, but it hardly mattered in the long run. He tried to find patterns in the wall texture as he felt his shoes removed. No socks protected his blackened soles underneath. He stiffened when a hand reached up for the button and zipper of his jeans, but tried his best not to flinch away. He could hear the concerned ringing of fire in his head as the fabric was stripped off of him. He pushed them all deeper down as his boxers were slid away.

 _‘Deep breaths,’_ he tried. _‘Relax.’_ He managed to string together a strong set of inhales until he was cut short in the middle of one when a cold hand spread an even colder gel over his hole. He jumped at the sudden feeling along his crease, making it all the more impossible to forget where he was, what he was doing. A slow stinging made his legs twitch, and as if to answer his question as to what caused it, a small bottle was tossed his way, rolling on the floor just into his view.

Lio managed to make out that it was some sort of travel sized hand lotion when his leg was hiked up to rest against the officer’s chest. The strain was already painful, especially with the weight of the other man on his other thigh, preventing his body’s muscles from stretching in the way they wanted to. He took one last look up at the man, who grinned down at him, almost sweetly.

“You look like a pound puppy, you know that? Such sad, big eyes. Adorable.” He lined himself up. Lio felt bile crawling up his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Don’t you worry. Everything’s gonna be alright.”

There was no easing into it. No slow pressing or waiting. The man speared himself into him in one smooth motion. Some sort of cry hit the roof of Lio’s mouth, tumbling past his lips like one falls down the stairs. The perfumes of the lotion immediately attacked every new tear of his insides and ate away at his raw nerves. Lio managed to keep the guttural sound at the burn mostly at bay through clenched teeth but couldn’t stop the shaky breath that escaped him with the effort.

“ _Haaah…_ ”

“Yeah, you like that?” He didn’t. He really, really didn’t. He didn’t like the smell of humid leather or the feel of the steady thrusting moving his body against it. He didn’t like the metal of the handcuffs biting into his wrist like barbed wire. He didn’t like the sound of the car rocking on its wheels. He didn’t like the meanings of pain and anger and help and _burn_ swirling around in his brain. He hated it all.

But he noticed how the cop’s paced quickened at the question. They were barely into the act but he was already gripping at Lio’s leg in that desperate manner he had learned to recognize. So Lio moaned. A quiet one, just enough to be heard, yet not loud enough to seem faked. 

The man cursed under his breath. “You’re so tight, fuck.”

Lio kept going, desperate for it to be over. He disguised his whimpers of pain as groans of pleasure, clenching his muscles at just the right moments to have the other’s hips stuttering. A particularly hard thrust brought tears to Lio’s eyes. He buried his head in the leather as much as he could, trying to stifle them at first, before concentrating on the feeling of water rolling down his cheeks over the rush of searing liquid flooding him as the sweaty man finished.

The thought, once fully processed, had Lio’s eyes suddenly flying open. He quickly propped himself up to watch the vile sight of the cop pulling out of him.

 _‘No condom,’_ he realized. _‘This fucker has lotion in his squad car, but no condom in his wallet?’_ Lio could feel himself fall into a frenzy of thoughts. _‘What the hell am I supposed to do, stumble around with cum dripping down my legs?!’_

It was almost funny, Lio would later think. Almost. He was just made to fuck in a locked car in exchange for his freedom and the thought of further soiling his only pair of pants was sending him spiraling.

“Hey now, come on, you’re alright.” Lio allowed himself to be slowly lifted and turned, like a decorative doll being posed. The handcuffs were tugged, tightened, and then after some fiddling, removed. “There you go. You can get your clothes on now.”

Lio nodded, scrubbing at his face. When his head had cleared enough to start concentrating on getting his lower half dressed, he heard the doors unlock.

“You can head out now,” the man told him. Sitting with his legs out the open door, turned away from Lio, he was in the process of adjusting his own clothes. “I don’t think I have to tell you not to go around telling people about this.” When no reply came, he turned his head to peer back at the young man. Seeing that he was now fully dressed, he said, “Go on now, the door’s unlocked.”

“...My food.”

“What?”

“My food,” Lio repeated, gesturing lightly at the passenger’s seat.

“Kid…” the cop chuckled. “That’s not your food. You _stole_ it, remember? Count yourself lucky I’m letting you go at all.”

The cold reached Lio’s core then. He felt hollowed and used. All at once, the hunger in his stomach rolled itself up his body to settle in his throat, stoked by invisible flames threatening to pour out of every pore of his body. He was starving. He was cold. He was desperate. Most of all, he was _furious._ He had done everything he was ever asked to do. Bent over backwards until his spine screamed for mercy. He did things that were demanded of him even when they made no sense, even when they hurt him in all kinds of ways. Lio had always bowed to the unquestionable authority in his life, simply trading one oligarch for another with promises of a more fair rule only to be met with a different flavor of tyranny, and it left a horrible taste on Lio’s tongue - like he had just licked the dust off of someone’s boots. 

All this heartache for what? What did Lio have to show for it other than his battered body and breaking mind. He clenched his fists, smouldering with rage. _‘My hands are too empty,’_ he thought.

In response, the flames shrilled. 

The cop was still sitting, back to the other, leaning down to adjust his pant legs when his head was suddenly yanked back by his hair and a burning blade made of brilliant hues was brandished against his neck.

“Wha-?!”

“ _Move_ ,” came the lowly growl. Barely a second had passed before Lio was demanding it again. “ _Move!!_ ” Lio shoved the man forward, his grip keeping him stooped over. “Don’t try anything or I’ll turn you to ash.”

“You’re Burnish,” the man croaked, still managing to sound smug despite his position. “I should’ve known, a petty criminal like you. Pathetic-” 

A distinct press against his throat was all it took to silence the man. “I don’t want to hear anything about _pathetic_ from a hideous creep like you,” Lio hissed, moving him along to the other doors. “Fucking someone barely legal trapped in your car, handcuffed and defenseless? What, a guy like you can’t get a ride any other way? That’s pathetic. Beyond it even. You disgust me so much I want to rip my own skin off and shove it down your throat till you choke.”

“You were into it,” he muttered darkly.

Lio shoved him into the passenger side. “I was into you finishing faster than a pubescent boy discovering porn for the first time. Now open it.” The cop did as he was told, popping open the door with little hesitance. “Reach in, grab the bag, and drop it behind you. You do anything outside of that, and I’ll be throwing your head into the street.” Lio couldn’t press any harder with his blade unless he wanted to make good on that promise too early, so he allowed a few laps of flames to reach out from his palm, letting him feel the heat on his skull.

Slowly, the cop bent forward, grabbed the bag, and tossed it further down the alley several paces too far from either of them.

“That’s not what I _asked._ ” Lio let his hand light up, vibrant flames devouring every black hair on his head. The blade dissipated at the startled yell, and Lio took the opportunity to kick the man to the side to give himself more space and distance between them. He darted for the plastic bag, scrambling to scoop it up before turning and shooting a flare under the car. Like a firecracker, the spark disappeared only to return ten-fold with a colorful explosion, blowing out all the tires and jumping the car up half a meter.

The sound of the alarm was deafening as Lio ran, diving around a corner as fast as he could. He needed to get away. He talked big when the cop was unarmed, but he didn’t know if he could deflect a bullet and wasn’t too eager to test it out. Just as he craned his neck to check behind him, relieved to see no one in pursuit yet, Lio slammed into a fence.

He unceremoniously bounced back onto his ass, sucking in a sharp breath at the blast of pain shooting through his body. He could still hear the patrol car scream. Back on his feet, he pitched the bag over, the cans inside clanging together. Lio launched himself up the fence, climbing rapidly when his right foot suddenly held fast. He shook his leg, but the oversize shoe was wedged in the chains. The fire inside wailed in worry.

“Shut up!” he shouted. “If you want to be helpful get me some shoes that actually _fucking fit!_ ”

His feet burst into pink blazes, flames only too happy to comply after waiting so long, dissolving the ratty loafers so that they could wrap snugly around his feet in tendrils, solidifying into something bright, black, and sturdy.

Lio didn’t have time to be amazed. His feet manoeuvred the chainlinks easily now and he threw himself to the otherside as soon as he reached the top.

 _‘Running out and down into the street would be too obvious,’_ he thought, just as he spied a fire escape. He slipped the loops of the bag through his arms and up to his shoulder and continued his running start towards a closed dumpster, figuring that it would give him enough height to leap for the bottom of the staircase. He nearly missed, which would’ve had him falling face first on the asphalt, but thankfully one of his hands managed to grab ahold of the metal. His body swung, halfway colliding with the brick building next to him until he was able to get his other hand to grab on. He tried to haul his body up to no avail, so he started swinging his legs, then his body. 

He was starting to panic again, surely the cop has recovered by now. Fueled by fear, he whipped himself forward, his legs finding a way to tangle themselves in the railings. With great effort, he struggled and heaved himself up and over, falling onto the grated landing in a heap before springing right back up. He clanged his way up several flights of stairs and one ladder to the rooftop. The buildings on this block were all reachable from one another by a single step at least and low-risk leap at most, and he overtook several in stride, careful to keep to the center of the roofs to avoid being seen from the street. 

Lio had no idea for how long he ran, but when he finally stopped he hardly recognized where he was. He allowed himself to crumple, falling to his knees heavily. There he sat, panting, looking up at the cloudy sky he had grown familiar with these past couple weeks, always on the brink of raining. Lio was grateful it hadn’t snowed.

He dug through his bag, practically ripping the cap off a bottle and dumping the whole thing in his mouth. Several urgent gulps later had him quenched enough to move on to the bag of beef jerky, which he actually did rip open. He didn’t care, tearing into a strip like a wild animal and moaning at the overly salty flavor. In the back of his mind, he swore that he heard giggles.

Lio slowed his devouring, thinking things over.

“Do… Do you need to eat too?” he asked aloud, immediately feeling foolish when no response came. 

He swallowed his food, wiping his hands on his jeans before peeling off the label of one of the water bottles and setting it on the ground. 

“What about this...?” he asked, tentatively reaching out with a single finger. As soon as he touched the label, it burst into flames. Lio jumped a little, but stared in awe. He heard it clearly this time - laughter.

He never really observed the flames, but he had to admit that they were stunningly beautiful. Bright hues of cyan and pink ever shifting to shades of purple and yellow. It wasn’t by too much, but the low whispers in his head seemed to settle.

Lio let out a laugh despite himself. Then another. And another. Until he was clutching at his stomach, laughing hysterically to the point of tears. He was practically rolling around on the crumbling roof of some unknown, abandoned building, in the middle of a city he clearly didn’t belong in, in a world that wasn’t his own.

“I’m going mad,” he giggled. “I’m going mad…” He sat up and flexed his hand with his palm up. He barely even finished his thought of “fire” when a small flame sizzled into existence under his watch.

“What else can you do?” He asked, throwing all sense to the wind. “What else can _we_ do?” 

The flame flickered. 

“I had a knife before. Can I see that again?” 

The flames didn’t answer him, necessarily, but Lio felt something fill his veins, guiding his motions to create what he needed. He crushed the fire in his fist and with a flick of his wrist the blade conjured into his grasp. 

Lio was positively giddy. “How about… a sword?” He swung his arm to the side for the construct to extend as if it were telescopic, but no matter where Lio poked and prodded he could only confirm that it was entirely and newly solid. 

Lio beamed. “Well, my humblest apologies, dearest mother and father,” he declared with the air of a performing playwright. “Those fencing lessons were _not_ a complete waste of time after all!” He swung the sword around experimentally. “Speaking of useless lessons…” He dug his fingers into the blade, this time the fire giving way easy for him, and pulled back. The flames morphed and bent into an elegant bow. 

“Wow,” Lio breathed. He could feel the energy whirring against his skin, in his veins, in his very core. The more he burned, the greater he felt. He had an endless arsenal at the tips of his fingers to command. It no longer mattered who he was up against - it was no longer a matter of brawn. For once in his life, Lio felt strong - Lio felt in control.

No one would hurt him ever again.

\---

Lio awoke to the sound of an unknown voice. In the post-nap haze, he struggled to remember where in his life’s timeline he had woken up to.

“Thanks again, Georgios!” he heard Galo call out.

“Yeah, yeah, just keep it under wraps for a few days, you clumsy bastard,” came the voice of someone male. Lio could make out the sounds of something being packed away in a bag - most likely nylon or canvas. Maybe a gym bag? Or a backpack? “How’s he doing?”

“Lio?” Said man closed his eyes again. He knew the voices were coming from behind the couch he napped on and they likely couldn’t see him and he really shouldn’t be eavesdropping anyways (if it even counted as eavesdropping, considering he was the one sleeping here first), but he couldn’t be too careful. “He’s doing okay. Better now, I think.”

“That’s good to hear. I saw the videos this morning. The body cams?” A few moments of shuffling, like the bag was being adjusted. “Man, it pissed me off so much. You won’t believe how many calls we get where these dumbass cops get on the scene first and it’s like they do their damnest to fuck absolutely everything up.”

“Yeah…” Galo started. “It was… frustrating to watch.” He groaned. “I can’t believe they didn’t even separate them. It’s like they had already made up their minds that it was a false call before they even showed up.”

“Right?! Dude, one time, my crew and I showed up on this job and we were like ‘where’s the victim?’ and the fucking cops were like ‘in the room back there.’

“‘Okay, so where’s the perpetrator?’

“‘In the room back there.’ and we were all just standing there like: ‘you put the victim and their abuser in a room together? Is anyone with them??’ and they went ‘no…’ like, it’s fucking unbelievable! By the time we got there the victim was curled up in a chair cause this dude was fuckin’ screamin’ at ‘em and it took twice as long to calm them down!”

Galo groaned again. “Seriously?”

“Right? My job would be so much easier if these idiots didn’t show up at all. But, hey-” the sound of a friendly punch, likely to Galo’s shoulder. “You firefighters are still alright in my book. You can still show, I guess.”

Galo laughed, loud and boisterous. “Thanks, G. Hopefully I won’t see you professionally for a while though.”

“I hope so too, man. Keep your face outta danger and maybe we won’t.”

Galo chuckled as the door opened. “I’ll try! See ya.”

“Take care!”

The door closed. Galo sighed, and for a moment Lio couldn’t hear anything until the feeling of his hair being brushed aside had him jumping.

“Gah-! Oh, jesus, sorry.” Galo let out a long breath, followed by a nervous laugh. “You scared me.”

“And you startled me,” Lio replied, turning to squint up at the man leaning over the back of the couch. “Your nose…”

Galo reached up to the small brace, colored in a way Lio supposed was suppose to resemble skin and secured with a few lines of medical tape. “Oh, yeah. My EMT buddy stopped by. He says it’s just fractured, so I should be right as rain in the next few days!”

“That’s good to hear.” Lio reached up, lightly brushing his thumb down the brace. “Does it hurt?”

“Not unless I blow my nose or sneeze real hard.”

Lio chuckled. “How long have I been out?”

“Well, I noticed you were snoozing pretty much five minutes into the show, then two more episodes went by, then Georgios showed up, and he just left, soooo maybe two hours?”

“What an amazing measurement of time, you have.”

“It’s a gift,” he said with a shrug. “Oh, by the way, Lucia called me - said she wanted you to come in with me on my next shift.”

“For what?”

Galo shrugged again, much more exaggerated this time around. “I dunno, but she sounded pretty hyped about something. Probably science related.”

Lio hummed, unenthused. On a normal day he had very little interest in the mad science experiments Lucia managed to come up with, so he wasn’t particularly excited about the idea now either.

“I suppose there isn’t any harm in seeing what she wants. I haven’t been out anywhere in a while - save for today. I might get more work done in a change of environment.”

Galo nodded eagerly. “You can hang out in the workroom and use one of the tables. I’m sure Meis and Gueira would be welcome too. What more do you have to do?”

“There’s always more to do - I have a lot of damage control to do for the proposals that were denied. Maybe we can figure out a way to re-word it so that it _looks_ like a new submission but it’s actually the same-”

“Oh, I thought you were talking about lawyer stuff,” he said.

Lio shook his head. “I’m pretty much waiting on the court process right now. Besides,” he added with a shrug, “I’m done with thinking about that for the moment. It’ll be nice to get something else on my mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Officer Dickface: Your food? Nah, you ain’t gettin’ that back! You know what they say: you can’t have shit in Detroit-
> 
> Lio, already making a blade: We’ll see the fuck about that.
> 
> \---
> 
> Tell me why I seriously was like “oh, I can’t write the EMT visiting, there’s a pandemic” 2020 got me mad fucked up


	12. Who’s Laughing Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say something like "I hope you all can stand through my bullshit this chapter," but let's be real; you've already made it though 80k+ words of my bullshit, so why else are you here, if not for the bullshit lol
> 
> But, all jokes aside, I appreciate y'all sticking around! Thank you!

“Behold!” Lucia boldly declared, presenting her arm to the room.

Remi, just as confused as everyone else and with half as much patience, was the first to break the awkward silence following the announcement. “You… injured yourself?” 

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Two years ago.” She waved her hand over the large, red splotch on her arm like the impossibly plastic people presenting the grand prize to hopeful contestants.

“Sooo… You have a scar?” Aina tried.

“I’m sorry; why was my presence needed for this?” Lio chimed in from the back of the room, papers fanned out in front of him.

“Yeah!” Gueira shouted from the same table as Meis gave a tired glare at the tiny woman. “Booooo!”

“It’s- Ugh! No! It’s not a scar!” Lucia explained, throwing her head back in annoyance. “Have you seen this scar on me before?”

“I really don’t pay attention to the, uh...” Aina scrunched up her face. “Inside of your arms?”

“Should we be?” Remi added dryly.

“Ha, ha, hilarious,” Lucia mocked, before holding up her arm once more. She pointed at it, as if the Burning Rescue crew in front of her simply did not see what she was referring to the first time around. “ _This_ is a burn I got trying to repair a mech that was a bit too fresh from the field two years ago. I remember it ‘cause it’s the whole reason I invested in those stupidly expensive gloves that go to my elbows.” She placed her hands on her hips, triumphant. The room did not share in her victory.

“Soo, it’s a scar,” Aina repeated.

“It’s not a scar!” she argued. “I recreated it!”

“Like, with make-up?” Galo ventured, tilting his head. 

“No! With- God, hold on!” Lucia hurried off to the next room, where noises and crashes could be heard as she quickly navigated around piles of vague technology. When she returned, lab coat flowing behind her, she held what appeared to be a-

“A scanner?” Remi sighed, annoyed. “When did you get a handheld scanner- _Why_ did you get a handheld scanner? Are you seriously so lazy you couldn’t just walk to the printer we have?”

“It’s not a scanner!”

“It’s a light?” Varys offered. “A worklight?”

“Ooh, yeah, I’ve seen some of those at the hardware store!” Aina chimed in. “The one I saw had magnets on the back so you can stick it on the hood of your car while you work on it.”

“It’s not a flashlight!” Lucia countered loudly.

“I think she doesn’t have a lot of friends and just needed more bodies to act as a sounding board, Boss,” Meis spoke to Lio, not even bothering to keep his words to a whisper. “Best we not be so harsh on her.” Lio nodded solemnly.

“Absolutely not!” she exclaimed. “I did this for you, I’ll have you know!”

“You burnt yourself with a lamp head for Fotia?” Ignis questioned.

“No more guessing!” Lucia nearly shouted. “No one! No one make any more guesses! Alright? You’re all wrong!” Once she got out the new rules of her presentation, she huffed, pointedly cleared her throat, and started again.

“ _This_ ” she said, waving the device around, “is something new I invented. Now, we have cells in our body called stem cells-”

Burning Rescue let out a collective groan.

“Well, you all didn’t get it by just showin’ ya so now I gotta do the whole thing!”

“Is this going to require a whiteboard again?” Remi lamented.

“We all have things we need to get back to doing, Ms. Fex,” Ignis mentioned steadily.

“I know! But I have a point, I promise!”

Ignis took a short pause, before eventually waving her on, face expressionless. Lucia pumped her fist and launched straight back into her speech, much to the disappointment of everyone else.

“Anyway, stem cells are basically the ‘blank slate’ of cells until they are needed, and from there they can develop into any kind of cell the body needs. Most of our tissue has ‘em stored in ‘em for years, just waiting to be used, like interns on stand-by, but they aren’t just sitting around doin’ nothin’. It was discovered a few years ago that they do in fact have behavioral roles. They communicate with our immune system and have a ‘memory’ of sorts! They transfer that memory to future cells so that with each new injury or illness, the immune system can be better prepared to handle similar attacks. And _this_ -” She lifted up the piece of tech once more, a long, matte-silver block with rounded corners, small enough to be held in one hand with one side covered in (as Remi so put it) what looked to be lights of a handheld scanner. “-can access that memory and recall past injuries visually! For your proof!” 

Lucia pointed with the scanner to the back table, and six pairs of eyes were suddenly on the Mad Burnish.

“ _What._ ” Gueira barked as Meis grounded out an “Excuse me?”

Galo was quick to act as a shield from the agitated glares of the generals. “Lucia, if this was about _that_ , you really didn’t need to do this in front of everyone-”

“Look, you want my help or not?”

“I do not.” Lio asserted, just loud enough to be heard by the room. “I want no part of your parlour trick.”

“It’s not a parlor trick! It’s real science! They’ve been using big versions of this to replicate auto-immune attacks for diagnosis for years! I just made it handheld. We just put in a time frame - like when you became Burnish - and a quick wave of the light and a _teensy_ bit of radiation and bam! Photographic proof you were injured.”

“You are not giving Boss cancer,” Gueira growled.

Lucia waved the accusation off with a scoff. “It’s not _really_ radiation in the literal defintion’s sense and it’s way less dangerous than a routine x-ray; he won’t get cancer!”

“Does it hurt?” Vayrs asked.

“Nope!” Lucia answered with a joyful poke at the burn mark. “And it fades in a few hours. Good as new!”

“Even if the science is sound, a court room full of the average person won’t find it believable.” Remi pointed out with a scowl.

“I don’t believe it myself,” Meis added on.

Lucia crossed her arms and squinted at the latter man. “That’s interesting talk coming from a dude who had parasitic, interdimensional aliens living in him at one point.” Meis returned her squint, insulted. “Besides, if Heris and I testify-”

“Heris?” Aina interrupted, the Burnish in the room stiffening at the name. “My sister?”

“Yeah, I don’t don’t know jack shit about the biological side of science, so she’s been helping out-”

“Oh, well in _that case...!_ ” Lio said, the sarcasm in his words as sharp as his volume. 

“We won’t have anything to do with her.” Meis insisted strongly. 

“Okay, then tell that to her face,” Lucia said, jabbing a thumb towards the open hall. Lio’s glare whipped to the nervous woman peering around the doorframe. She squeaked at the sudden attention.

“ _Lucia!_ ” Galo said in a stage whisper, betrayed at the other woman’s appearance. 

Aina hopped to her feet, making her way over. “What are you doing here?” she asked with a grimace. 

Heris adjusted her glasses, inching her way out into the open carefully. “I- I have been assisting Dr. Fex-”

“Ugh, I told you not to call me that.”

“-with, ah, with her latest project.”

“And she has been very helpful!” Lucia insisted loudly. 

“I understand the hesitance to trust me-”

“ _Do you?_ ” Gueira interjected, rising from his seat. 

“Heris did help out tremendously with Burnish recovery after the Blaze, need I remind you,” Lucia countered. “And testified against Kray!”

“And that was her atonement!” Lio snapped. “It means nothing when it comes to my faith in her _science_ and character!”

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Aina told her sibling as an aside, shaking her head. “You know this always dissolves into a fight.”

“I know,” Heris replied sadly. She looked downcasted only for a few moments however, a renewed vigor taking hold of her posture. “But I have some information that you may find significant.”

“I very much doubt that,” Lio quipped.

“Foresight may be providing a legal team for Ms. Donatus.”

The tension in the air shifted to a different breed with the news. Galo, Aina, Remi, and Varys going from looking incredibly uncomfortable with the discussion to outright appalled. 

“What do you mean?” Galo demanded. “He’s in prison, he can’t do anything.”

Heris frowned deeply. “It’s only a rumor… but my old colleagues aren’t ones to gossip. As you know Foresight Pharmaceuticals has rebranded… but he still has influence. And while Foresight can’t _do_ anything with his assets, he still has access to it and can direct it to be used how he wishes.”

Lio pressed his thumbs into the side of his head, trying to prevent the migraine he felt coming on. “Kray Foresight has no horse in this race. He serves to gain nothing if this were true. There is no benefit for him.”

“He hates you,” Heris pointed out, a bit apologetically. “That may be all the reason he needs.”

“It’ll be the best legal team money can buy, if the information is accurate,” Remi said bitterly. 

“The best legal team money can buy didn’t help Kray escape a sentence!” Galo brought up. “He’ll be a hobbled old man before he gets released!”

“But he should’ve gotten life,” Varys commented. “They helped him avoid that.”

“In addition, the physical evidence against Kray literally rested in a massive hole in the city.” Remi added on. “Fotia’s evidence at this point is largely circumstantial.”

Galo winced, looking back to said Burnish, who stared angrily down at the paperwork in front of him.

“I didn’t want to deal with this anymore today,” he muttered.

“And you don’t have to!” Galo quickly told him. Turning back to everyone else, as if trying to convince them, he continued. “We can just wait until it’s confirmed - _if_ it’s confirmed!”

“If we try it out today we’ll at least know that it works.” Lucia explained. “And if it doesn’t, we have time to figure something else out.” She looked at Lio then, expectedly. 

Galo looked back in his stead, exasperated. “You can’t seriously spring this on him today and expect him to make a decision right now? That’s so unfair!”

“He really doesn’t have anything to lose by doing it!”

“Yes,” Heris added. “The risks are very minimal!” This, as it turns out, was the wrong thing to say, as all three men with a vested interest in Lio’s well being immediately rushed to question that logic.

“What kind of risks are we talkin’ ‘bout here?!”

“How ‘minimal’ is minimal, exactly?”

“Then I’ll test it out first!” 

Meis and Gueira shared a shocked look at the firefighter, as if they were offended he beat them to such a suggestion, before launching into their own offers.

“No! I’ll do it! I’m second in command!”

“The injuries I got when I Flared were way less damaging - I’ll do it!”

“None of you will be testing anything,” came Lio’s drained call overtop of the arguing. The bickering voices ceased at once, Meis and Guiera awaiting Lio’s next words eagerly. Galo, with concern. 

Lio looked up, gaze flicking between the two scientists, expression overtaxed and irked. “What would I have to do?”

\---

Galo was worried. Lio had been sealed up emotionally and obstinate in his behavior, but now Galo was thinking that he was coping by swinging too far the other way. So he said as much.

“Lio, if I’m being honest here, I’m thinking you're starting to swing too far the other way.”

“Galo, if _I’m_ being honest here, I’m thinking this is not how I wanted you to see me in my underwear for the first time.” This shut him up, but only for a couple of minutes.

“See, that’s kinda what I’m talking about.”

“What’s that?”

“The underwear thing.”

Lio took a deep breath. Galo could see his ribs move and his stomach go shallow as he did so. He had gained some weight since the Second Blaze (Galo had made sure of it), but he was still more slender than Galo thought was healthy. He wondered if Lio’s metabolism was just permanently fucked. Maybe it was a Burnish thing, or a on-the-run thing, as Meis and Gueira both seemed to be a similar story. Galo wasn’t entirely sure though, as he’s never seen those two in a near state of nakedness.

He could no longer say the same thing about Lio.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“Lio, do you seriously think you would’ve agreed to this a week ago?”

“ _You don’t know everything about me, Thymos._ ” Lio spat. Galo moved to protest but Lio cut him off just as quickly. “-I’m sorry. I’m sorry. That was...” Lio’s folded arms started rubbing up and down his arms. “That was cruel of me.”

Galo nodded. He understood - really he did. The poor man was stripped down to his boxer briefs, sitting on a make-shift exam table made out of one of their spare workbenches, shivering against the air conditioner blasting in a spare room Lucia often made use of when her lab overflowed.

“What’s cruel is keeping us waiting this long,” Gueira complained. “Hey, drill-head girl! Are you and Dr. Mengele _done_ yet?” On the other side of the room, Lucia and Heris worked at a set of computer screens. Only the latter looked up, face pulled down into an aggrieved expression. “What? You shocked I called it how it is?”

“She’s probably just shocked that you even know who that it is,” Lucia chimed, still typing away. “We’re just getting the last of this info entered while we wait, there’s nothing left to do until something appears.”

“And this will be painless?” Meis asked, more of a reminder than an actual question.

“Yes, completely. Along with being a smaller size, the scanner is way less powerful than the ones they use up in hospitals or research facilities. For the ease of explanation, I’ll say that it’s not capable of reaching ‘deep’ enough to trigger any nerve response, so to speak. It’s like beauty, that way - only skin deep.” Lucia cackled to herself at the joke. Unsurprisingly, no one else joined her.

Galo gave Lio another once over. They had set up the scanner with the date of Lio’s Flare five years prior and waved it all over him nearly an hour ago by his estimations. 

“Do you know what sort of, um, injuries we should be looking for?” Heris had asked him as Lucia slowly worked the device down his arm. 

Lio might have answered if it were anyone else. “I guess you’ll find out soon, won’t you?” he quipped instead.

“How long did it take for your burn mark to show, Lucia?” Galo asked, shrugging off his heavy coat to drape over the other. 

The typing halted. “...Not… As long as this.”

“Alright, I’m calling it,” he expressed firmly. “Even I’m freezing in here.”

“The shirt you’re wearing barely qualifies as such!” she pointed out with a whine. “Fabric’s so thin I can see your abs from here!”

“And Lio’s wearing even less than that!” he countered. “Face it, Lucia, it’s not working.”

“Maybe it’s just taking more time because it was a longer time ago?”

“Well, how long did it take for you?” Galo asked again.

Lucia leaned back in her rolling chair to grab a notebook, flipping through it until she found what she was looking for. “Twelve minutes.”

“So, what, that’s like six minutes per year?” Lucia winced in response. “Then we’re calling it. It’s not working.”

“Great,” Lio stated blandly, taking his folded clothes from Gueira. “Now I can get back to working on more important tasks.” After handing Galo back his jacket, he roughly pulled a long-sleeved V-neck over his head and all but yanked his jeans up his legs. 

“I have some things I need to do for my shift,” Galo told him as he tugged his socks and shoes on. “I’ll check in on you later, okay?”

Lio offered nothing more than a grunt of acknowledgment and a wave on his way out. Once the former Burnish had departed, Galo turned back to the two women and fixed them with a serious look.

“We’re trying to help!” Lucia defended. Heris looked down at her feet. 

“You could’ve come to me first, Lucia. I would’ve told you how he would hate it.”

“Of course he would hate it and get all agitated, but there’s hardly anything in the world that doesn’t make him like that!”

Galo shook his head quickly, disappointment leaking into his tone. “That’s no excuse! I thought you two were friends? Kinda? At least on friendly terms.”

“We are friends! -Kinda.” Lucia rubbed at her neck sheepishly. “I wouldn’t be doing all this if I didn’t care a whole lot. I _am_ trying to help.”

“You really went about it in the wrong way.” With a pointed look to Heris, he added. “I’m sure he felt like a science project.”

“I- I really do have the best intentions,” Heris said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know if there’s ever enough I could do to make up for what I did, but I am trying.”

Galo crossed his arm with a gruff sigh. “Well, your intentions didn’t translate.”

“It would seem that way…”

Lucia tapped her foot impatiently, before throwing her arms up and pushing herself up from her chair. “Fine! I’ll apologize to him! And-” She stopped her march right in front of Galo, craning her neck to look into the much taller man’s eyes. “I’m sorry to you too. I got an idea in my head and got all excited about the end result that I forgot to consider everything in between.” Her tone was genuine before, but for her next line, she sounded much like a child being made to act remorseful to a sibling by a cross parent. “I’m sooorrrry I scared your boyfriennnd...”

Galo gave a crooked smile. “Ahh, he’s not my boyfriend. I think.” The man paused, mulling it over. “Actually, I’m not sure what we are.”

“Well, you may wanna ask him. In case you missed the lesson just now about assuming with good intentions.” Lucia gestured towards herself, giving Galo a wink.

“Oh, but don’t do it now,” Heris offered.

“Oh, yeah, _god_ , not now.”

\---

Five hours later, Galo was nearing the end of his shift. He could never be entirely confident that someone _wouldn’t_ set their kitchen on fire when he was so close to finishing up, but he could never be sure. Still, he took the lull in activity as an opportunity to check in with the Mad Burnish crew. They had stationed themselves at an empty table in the garage, away from everyone. It was a relatively peaceful spot (save for the single time the alarm sounded off and they took off with the truck horn blaring), good enough for them all to discuss whatever matters they needed to without human disturbance.

Galo waved to them all as he approached. Though he didn’t look up from the paper he was speaking to his generals about, Lio returned the gesture, and Galo felt a lot less like he was intruding.

“How’s it going over here?” he asked, hopeful for a pleasant answer.

“Terrible,” Meis replied just as Guiera groaned out, “Dumb as hell.”

He grimaced, pulling out a chair just so he could sit in it backwards, arms resting on the chair’s back. “Anything I can do to help?”

“That depends,” Lio hummed. “How do you feel about assasination?”

“That bad, huh?”

Lio’s hand roughly ran through his mint hair, already tousled by how many times he must’ve done so before Galo arrived. “It’s all filibustering bullshit.”

“We were just discussing a change of tactics,” Meis said, watching Galo carefully out of the corner of his eye.

He didn’t get the chance to ask before Gueira answered with a scowl. “Yeah, the money.”

“The money?”

“At least what is in my supposed bank accounts,” Lio explained. “We have almost no choice but to rely on that now. I’m waiting on Kostas to get back to me on how I’m meant to retrieve that.”

“Well, if you need a bank here, mine’s pretty good! Cashback checking!”

Lio looked up at him languidly, cheek resting on his hand. “I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s where you get money for spending money.”

“Sounds like a scam.” Galo had started to chuckle at that when Lio’s mumbled add on turned his mood. “Not that I would know anything about recognising one of those.”

“Lio…”

“Anyway,” the other man loudly continued. “After everything’s all said and done I can go about changing my name back and getting some actual legal documents. Maybe I can get the marriage annulled too…”

He trailed off, brows furrowing and lips still parted with words unfinished. His stare was locked on something behind Galo.

“Lio?” The taller man looked back, but it wasn’t difficult to spot what had Lio staring in growing, wretched contempt. Meis and Gueira were on their feet in seconds. 

“Get _the hell_ outta here,” Gueira snarled.

Aleka ignored him, as well as Meis’ own demands for her to leave immediately. She sidestepped Galo as if she saw him only as furniture, staring openingly at her as if she’d arisen from the dead. 

Aleka slammed her hands down in the table, papers hopping and fluttering at the motion, leaned in and hissed, “ _Drop the case._ ”

Lio met her glare evenly, lips curling into a sneer. “ _No._ ”

“Lio, you _know_ this is bullshit-”

“Oh, it’s bullshit alright!” he spat, shooting out of his chair. “The whole _con_ you two pulled is complete bullshit! What the fuck is _wrong_ with you?!”

“You knew about all those things! You’re such a fucking liar!”

“I knew about _nothing,_ Aleka! I’m only finding out _now_ how much of a monster your brother really was - and how much of one _you_ are as well-”

“You don’t have any right to be calling anyone a monster after you’ve burned people alive and went on a fucking rampage! And now you’re demanding _money_ too?!”

“It’s mine, isn’t it?! It’s in the name I didn’t know I had!”

“You have no _idea_ the shit I went through because of you-”

“Oh, _I’m sorry!_ ” Lio shouted, ragged voice ringing throughout the garage like a church bell. “Was life so hard for you after you no longer had your cash cow to exploit? Was it so hard when you finally had to go get a real job?”

“I don’t have any idea what the fuck you are talking about,” she snapped back. She gripped at her shirt furiously, as if she had to hold onto something - anything - to prevent her chest from exploding. “My brother was the only one left I had in this world and you took him away!”

“Your brother was the only thing _I_ had left in the world and he took his own damn self away!” Lio had rounded the table and had stationed himself in front of her, so close they practically breathed the same air. “And then he made sure to remind me any time he could how goddamn _alone_ I was-”

“You don’t get to kill people because you feel bad that _mommy and daddy_ are disgusted with you.” The insult cracked through the space like a whip, stealing away any words trying to follow it, leaving only silence in its wake. It hit Lio like a rock into a pool of magma, cracking through the solid surface and settling in deep out of reach. It burned it’s way to the bottom of his lungs.

Galo spun her around, grabbing her by the shoulder. “Leave.” he urged, fury keeping his thoughts even. “Now.”

“Don’t touch me,” she seethed. “If you try to force me out of here it’ll be assault.”

“You are trespassing.” Galo countered. “I have every right to remove you from this building any way I please.”

‘I’m not leaving until he agrees-” she spun back around, ripping herself out of his grip, to face an infuriated, glowering Lio. “-to _drop_ the case.”

“I’m about to drop-kick your ass across this floor,” Gueira growled out. “Hit you with a beat more platinum than your hair.”

Meis pressed his fist against his jaw until both his knuckles and neck cracked and popped.

“Final warning,” Galo pressed. “Believe me, I’m being kind beyond what you deserve by offering it.” He leaned in real close. He wasn’t too sure what he would do if she would refuse - which she was going to, judging by the unflinching way she allowed him into her space - he just knew he wanted her to disappear. He certainly wasn’t going to wail on her like the two men at his sides were foaming at the mouth to do, but he allowed the idea of picking her up and chucking her out the door like a spear to roll around in his head.

“Aleka.” The woman turned back to Lio with a preposterously imperious stare. Galo couldn’t possibly even begin to fathom how someone could be surrounded by four angry people in their own home field and believe themselves to have the upper hand. Lio coughed roughly, clearing his throat of the old habit that was his manner of speaking to her. A few more jagged exhales forced their way out of him before he was able to properly continue. “What do you want?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I _told_ you; drop the-”

“No, what do you _want._ ” he broke in. “We both know this isn’t about your brother. If that was the _only_ thing you cared about this all would be going very, very differently.” Lio cleared his throat again, an unintentional bide for time as he didn’t think he’d have her attention for this long without her screaming at him again, but he held her gaze all the same. “So what else is it that you want? Money, is it?”

Aleka shook her head, a crooked smile unraveling, finding his words disgustingly comical. “You are unbelievable.”

But Lio was undeterred. “If I give you a portion- I don’t even care, just throw out a number. Anything at this point to get you away from me!” Her chortles grinded against him in all ways of wrong, Galo could tell. Lio's voice grew more and more coarse with each fervent word he got out. “What is it, Aleka? What the hell do I have to do to _never_ see you again?! All I _want_ is for you to just _leave me-_ ” 

He stopped short, as if his voice had been yanked back into him. He leaned over himself just slightly, swaying to the side at the smallest of degrees towards the table, one hand already reaching for its support. Lio’s expression faded from angry to lithe concern.

And then the most sickening, wheezing noise crawled out his throat, other hand grasping at his neck.

“Lio?” Galo reached for him, trying to coax him to stand upright. Aleka as a person was immediately abandoned and ignored as both generals hurried to his side.

“Boss, are you alright?” Gueira fretted as Meis yanked out a chair.

“Sit,” he commanded. Lio didn’t obey, hunching over himself more, sounding as if he was trying to speak without a windpipe.

Galo felt the gears in him shift. He dropped to his knees, forcing Lio into the chair on his way down. “Lio, I need you to answer me, okay?” Galo tilted his head back so that he could see his face. It had a ghostly pallor, skin clammy to the touch. The hair around his forehead clinging to him with the sudden cold sweat he had broken out in, but he had no fever. “Can you breathe?”

Lio nodded, the motion stiff and jerky. 

He took Lio’s wrist, fingers over his pulse, and started counting in his head. “Can you show me what’s hurting you?”

“A…alo…” he managed to get out. He sucked what air he could, sounding like he was trying to do so through a straw. “ _Alone…_ ”

He looked up. Lio’s glare was locked onto the woman, frozen in morbid trepidation a few paces behind Galo. 

“ _Leave me alone…_ ” A feral cat’s own hiss couldn’t match the malice and warning in Lio’s voice. He finished his sentence with grim satisfaction, sinking back further in the chair, squeezing his eyes shut. “All I want… is for you to leave me alone…”

Galo saw it as he leaned back. He forgot his counting, released Lio’s left wrist to pull down his right, removing his hand from his throat.

Bruises. Getting darker and darker by the second, blooming into existence like an ink spill on white paper.

Gueira sputtered in rage when he saw. “Is that from the thing?!” 

“This doesn’t look very painless,” Meis muttered darkly. 

“It’s... just my throat…” Lio said weakly. “Only thing that hurts. Just sore… I can breathe fine.”

“Yeah, sure sounds like it.”

“Get your stupid researchers to turn it off!” Gueira demanded at Galo. He shoved against him, but the firefighter barely moved at the action.

“I don’t know if she can,” he answered with a little panic. “We need to get back to her.” He hadn’t even begun reaching out for Lio when he, as if sensing it, waved him away.

“I can walk just fine…” He rasped, hauling himself to his feet. “Don’t make a big deal out of nothing… I’m fine-” Lio crashed forward with a sharp gasp with the very first step he took. He groaned in pain, like an animal in the slow process of dying on the roadside. He was still reaching vaguely for one of his pants legs when Galo gathered him up, rushing back to the lab space.

“ _Lucia!_ ” he called, loud voice booming through the halls. Remi stuck his head out from a room they passed, but Galo wasn’t within earshot for long to hear what he said. Meis had darted forward to hold the door to the workroom and they nearly bowled right into Lucia coming through.

She jumped back with a yelp. “Galo? What are you yelling about-”

“You said it wouldn’t hurt him!” Meis snapped. “What the hell do you call this then?!”

“Turn it off!” Gueira urged, bouncing in place, too much manic energy built up within him. “Or reverse it! Something!”

“It’s not that bad…” Lio tried to argue. 

“You fell!” Meis reminded him sharply. “Collapsed!”

“It just... surprised me a bit and I tripped, that’s all...”

“You sounded like you had been shot!” Gueira told him with a cry before fixing his fury on the much smaller woman. “Fix him. _Now._ ”

Lucia directed Galo to lay his charge back on the workbench while she scrambled off to find Heris. Lio finched at the cold sting of the metal, his shirt riding up enough to expose some of his back, but otherwise did not make any further complaint. Even with his head tucked in Galo could see the bruises. Absolute black flanked up the sides of Lio’s neck, sickly yellow feathering the borders. The marks painted themselves up towards the center in big, thick, symmetrical strokes. Then, as if someone had lifted the brush, there was a distinct space of unmarred skin. A large, clean U-shape encapsulated two black points. The brush, heavy with ink, left two drops of the darkest shade right alongside Lio’s Adam’s Apple before it was able to be pulled away completely. There were dark red lines going down under his shirt like blood dripping off his collarbone. His eyes were-

Galo flinched , startled by the sight he thought he saw. “Lio, look at me.”

With a grimace, Lio opened his eyes again to meet Galo’s worried stare.

“Your eye is red,” Galo said, gently pulling up his right eyelid further. 

Lio turned away, swatting at his hand. “Both of my eyes are red…” he huffed. “Are you just now noticing…?”

“First of all, your eye color isn’t red, it’s _magenta_ .” Lio’s face shifted to one of strong annoyance, like he wanted to smack him upside the head with whatever he could get his hands on. “Second, I’m not talking about your eye _color_ , I'm talking about your _eye._ Your whole eye - it’s all red.” 

The generals shifted themselves to have a better look for themselves and both pulled back upon seeing it.

“Is it _bleeding?_ ” Gueira asked.

“I don’t think so,” Meis offered, though he looked unsure of his answer. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” Lio replied.

“Does…” Meis gently brushed his fingers against the dark bruises. “Does this hurt…?”

Lio blinked. “No.”

“Really?” Galo couldn’t help from saying.

Meis pressed just a bit harder, only to pull back the second Lio winced.

“It doesn’t _hurt_ -hurt,” Lio tried to reason. “It’s deeper... like the inside of my throat is scratched up - like I breathed in fire wrong.”

“Is there a right way to breathe in fire?” Galo quired.

“Yes,” was the three-way reply. 

“Maybe I should call up my EMT buddy again...” he said worriedly as he gently attempted to peel off Lio’s shoe. “Let me see your leg-”

At the first tug at his heel, Lio shot straight up with a cry, reaching out towards the pain. Eye wide, Galo halted. 

Meis bristled. “What did you _do?_ ” Galo did not reply, watching how Lio shakingly lowered himself back down. Once back flat on his back, Galo set his right foot down and, with even more tact than before, rolled up the cuff of his jeans to reveal yet another darker than midnight bruise, wrapping the entirety of his ankle tighter than a garrotte. The group looked at the wound the same way they would look at a snake coiled around its prey, wringing the very life from it, and the quiet wheezing Lio let out with every breath of effort did nothing to dispel the image.

Lio waved one of his arms about lethargically. “Help me sit up.”

Galo nodded absentmindedly, offering his hand out to Lio-

“You and your team have helped enough!” Guiera hissed, slapping his hand away in place of his own.

“It’s not his fault, Gueira,” Lio rasped. He allowed himself to pulled upright, Meis’ palms on his back, but tugged his hand out of the other general’s grip soon after. “Don’t take it out on him.”

“He’s just worried for you, Boss,” Meis reasoned, though it didn’t stop the furious glare from appearing on his face when Lucia and Heris returned.

Gueira was unable to defend himself. He looked at his unclenched fist and seized up, shaking out his palm and sputtering, whipping his arm down until Galo spied something fly to the ground. He shouted something in disgust, but Galo couldn’t understand what, too focused on what appeared to be a red-stained bit of plastic on the floor.

Suddenly putting two-and-two together, Galo grabbed ahold of Lio wrist to confirm that where a nail once was, was now a bloody space on the tip of his finger.

Lio stared along with the other man. Galo could see Lio start to slip away, blank expression threatening to take control once more.

“...Well,” Lio remarked. “That’s not very good… is it?”

When Georgios arrived at Burning Rescue, Lio had lost two more fingernails on his other hand and several more smaller bruises had peeked out from under his clothes and marred his face. Lucia and Heris had already done all that they could do - which wasn’t much. The plan had been to summon a few injuries and take a few photos. Anything else beyond that was completely unexpected and ill-prepared for. They did their part in explaining what they had been attempting as the medic unpacked and organized his things.

“Before the Second Blaze,” he began when they finished. “Before we knew about the Promare-thing, I would’ve left already. I would’ve thought you guys were trying to prank me.” He snapped on some medical gloves. “Or were high.” Then, with a shake of his head, he added, “Too science-fiction, man.” He spun around, missing the way Lucia and Heris looked away in embarrassment. “Alright, Lio!”

Said man was sitting up, perched on the workbench. His legs dangling loosely, hands clenched around the edge of the table. 

“Alright… Gio.” he echoed. Georgios laughed loudly in response. 

“That’s funny!”

“Is it?” 

“If you’re that easily entertained, no wonder you and this guy are friends,” Gueira said casually, tipping his head in Galo’s direction. Lio couldn’t help but silently agree. Even visually, Georgios looked like Galo from an alternate timeline - one where he was born on an island somewhere and joined the coast guard instead of Burning Rescue. Instead of an affinity for matoi, this sun-kissed, buzz-cut version of Galo had an apparent affinity for polynesian tattoos. Lio wondered if he was of that heritage or simply liked the design.. He figured it would be rude to ask.

Galo cast a side-long glance at the general, unsure of the comment, while the EMT just grinned. “I’m gonna poke and prod at ya’ a little, that okay?”

Once Lio realized he was talking to him, he gave him a wary look. “What does that entail, exactly?”

“For now, it means I’m gonna look over your injuries. If Galo wants to be my lovely assistant, I’d be happy to demonstrate.” Galo hesitated, reluctant to leave Lio’s side. He had only just started to shuffle forward when he was yanked back by his shirt.

“No,” Lio said. “Galo stays right here. What about Dr. Ardebit.” Heris squeaked, further shrinking once Lio’s gaze slid over to her. “You want to help, right.”

Heris knew she had no reason to refuse or be nervous - it was a completely innocent request and task in any other circumstance. However, the motive was petty, to say the least, and it put her on edge no matter how much she told herself that she wasn’t in any danger under the Mad Burnish’s glare.

“I’ll do it,” Lucia offered nonchalantly, hand-raised like she was in school. “I need to make up for putting you in this mess anyways.”

“Great,” Georgios replied, before nodding to Heris. “Lio said you were a doctor, right? Then you can take notes for me. ”

“Oh, um, I’m not… I’m not that kind of doctor, so…”

He looked back at her and Heris saw just the slightest twinge of annoyance. “What kinda doctor doesn’t take notes?”

The man had looked appalled when he first entered the room and saw Lio, who - by any account - looked like he’d been thrown into an active rock tumbler left there for several days. He maintained a similar sunny disposition to Galo, but that little twinge was enough to tell her that he was not happy with the reason that brought him here.

So Heris nodded. “Of course. I’ll take notes.”

Georgios brightened. “Good! Now-” He took Lucia’s arm and lifted it up till it was parallel with the floor. “I’ll just be looking around, moving you just a bit like this” He rotated Lucia’s wrists around as if he were examining her before taking two fingers and tilting back her head. “I’ll need to push aside your clothes just a bit like- uhh…” He eyed Lucia’s bralette for a few puzzled moments. Quickly, he moved on to the sleeve of her lab coat, shifting the cuff up her arm. “-Like this, but that should be all. I’ll be sure to let you know before I do anything else, okay?”

Lio regarded him cautiously, but nodded all the same.

“Great! We’ll work our way down.” With that said, the man grasped lightly at the sides of Lio’s face, a more serious expression overcoming him as he focused. “Close your eyes for me.” Lio obeyed, fighting the urge to lean back away from the man now so close to him. “Presence of petechiae on both eyelids.”

The comment was followed with silence, until Georgios gave a little sigh and sent a pointed look over his shoulder. “Presence of petechiae on both eyelids,” he repeated, slightly louder.

Heris jumped, scrambling to take the note down. “Oh! Sorry…”

“It’s alright.” He turned Lio’s head both ways. “Petechiae on both ears too, inside.”

“What’s that mean?” Meis asked.

In response, Georgios waved him in a little closer. “These little pinpricks here,” he said, brushing a thumb over a swarm of red specks under Lio’s eyebrows, “are a symptom of petechial hemorrhage, which is when these tiny, little blood veins under our skin rupture. It can happen for a few different reasons, but in this case, it would be because there was an immense increase in pressure when circulation was cut off. When the blood has nowhere else to go, it just builds up in the veins until they can’t handle it anymore and bursts open. You can open your eyes now.”

Lio did as he was told, eyelashes fluttering up before Georgios held one eye open just a bit wider.

“It’s the same story here. Write this down: blood vessels ruptured in right eye. Left has minimal hemorrhaging.” As Heris scribbled, the man pulled back a bit to address Lio directly. “Tell-tale signs of being strangled. Which - I could tell the moment I saw you - is what happened.”

Lio grimaced, but he was quickly drawn out of it before he could confirm anything by the EMT once more holding open his eye, drawing a small light over it before moving onto the next.

“Both pupils are reactive. How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Three.”

“Look here.” He pointed to his own nose. “Keep your eyes right there. Tell me when you can’t see my finger anymore.” He held up his pointer and slowly moved it off to the side.

“There,” Lio answered when it disappeared from his peripherals. Georgios repeated the action on his other side. “There.”

Georgios drew back once more. “You can relax now. Do you notice anything different with your vision? Anything more blurry or brighter than usual?”

“No.”

“How about darker? Are you seeing any vignetting?”

Lio shook his head.

“Read back the last thing you wrote down for me, Dr. Ardebit.”

“Um, ‘both pupils are reactive’?” she replied.

Georgios nodded. “Good. Write this down too: vision appears normal and unaffected. There are several bruises of extreme dark coloration on the victim’s face and neck, but swelling is non existent. ...Which is strange. Uh, you don’t need to write that last part.” He turned back to where he laid his equipment out, locating a plastic folder. “Do me another favor though, Doctor,” he directed, pulling out a paper from it’s sleeve. “Fill this out for me. You know what it is?”

Heris took the paper gently. On it, a stark image of a person from multiple angles looked back at her. It looked slightly more human than the CPR dummies she’s seen.

“Yes,” she answered and started recreating the bruises on the figure’s face.

“Great, while she’s doing that, Lio-” Lio looked up. “What hurts?”

Galo felt the grip tighten on his shirt. “Just my throat. ...And my ankle.” He lifted his leg up just enough so that his calf had some swing to it when he sat it back down. “...and my side.”

“What’s wrong with your side?” Gueira immediately piped up.

“Nothing, it just hurts a little.” Despite the unconcerned answer, Lio would meet no one’s eye.

“Define ‘a little.’”

“How about this,” Georgios interrupted gently. Galo took the opportunity to nudge Lio’s arm, silently offering up his hand, who took it without a word. “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your overall pain.”

Lio sucked in as deep of a breath he could manage with his shredded-sounding throat. “Three,” he said finally.

“Thre-,” Meis stuttered out, incredulous. “Boss, don’t _do_ that.”

“Do what?”

“ _Lie._ ”

Lio, apparently mortally offended at this, countered, “I am not _lying!_ ” 

“So your pain’s only a _three_ then? Is that what you’re saying?”

Lio crossed his arms, letting go of Galo’s hand in the process, leering down at the other man from the few inches he had from sitting higher up. “Yes.”

Meis regarded him, as if he were considering knocking him down off his throne. “Then take off your shoe.”

Lio met the other’s challenging stare evenly. He maintained eye contact while he reached down and slipped his left sneaker halfway down his foot. He sat back up and kicked. The shoe flew across the room, crashing into something that (judging by Lucia’s drawn-out whine) seemed important.

“There,” he said conclusively. 

“Are you serious?” Gueira chimed in. “Are you a toddler or somethin’?”

Meis was much more straightforward. “The other shoe, Lio.”

Lio sniffed hautiedly. “I don’t feel like it.”

“ _Wow,_ you are _terrible_ at this.”

“Just from looking at the bruising alone, I would think his ankle was broken,” Galo told his friend. “But like you said, no swelling.”

“That’s because - like _I_ said - the whole reflection is supposed to be visual only,” Lucia said. “It shouldn’t trigger any inflammation.”

“You also said it wouldn’t hurt,” Gueira muttered.

“It shouldn’t have!”

“Well, regardless, you still have to damage the blood vessels to get the contusion to appear, don’t you?” Gio spoke up, looking at Galo as if he had the answer. The firefighter shrugged heavily. “It’s not like you can get the skin to just change color.”

“No, the whole point _was_ to get the color change, it’s just like- Ugh, It’s hard to explain in layman’s terms!” Lucia groaned. “It’s like a temporary tattoo, kinda! Created with light.” Then quieter, she added, “And radiation.” Knowing Gueira could jump in again, she pointed at him as if it would physically stop him. “Only a tiny amount! Your phone and microwaves have more!”

“Okay, well, Lio-” Lio sat up straighter. “I’m going to press around, okay? Tell me if anything hurts even slightly, alright?”

He frowned, but nodded, once again fighting the instinct to lean back away from the hands on his face.

“Does this hurt?” he asked, lightly pressing on a few shades of purple.

“No.”

He pressed just a bit harder on one spot. “And this?”

“No.”

“Can you, like, feel that at all?”

Lio winced, not out of pain, but out of the weird feeling of the man digging his thumbs into his forehead. “I can feel you just fine, it just doesn’t hurt.”

“And what about here-” Lio’s hands snapped up, snaring the other man’s wrists as they floated towards his neck, heart suddenly slamming against his chest in time with his rapid breaths.

The two stared at each other, wide-eyed. Georgios’ gaze flicked down to his own forearm, currently seized in Galo’s vice-like grip. He had been watching Lio carefully from the beginning, quiet in concentration. Galo reacted the moment he saw Lio tense up as soon as fingers dipped past his jawline.

Slowly, Gio moved his hands back. “Terribly sorry about that.” Galo released his arm, and tensions in the silent room relaxed. “I should’ve warned you a bit better.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” Lio offered quickly. “Not on the surface. It’s…” He struggled for a moment, trying to find the right word before settling for what he said earlier. “...deeper.”

“Deeper, like inside in your throat or like in your muscles?”

“Both? Maybe?”

Georgios looked thoughtful for a moment. “Do me a favor, put your hands on your chest like this.” He placed both of his palms flat against his pecs, hands parallel, fingertips just barely brushing under the shallow edge of his collarbone. Lio was confused, but did as he was asked. After a few more moments of thought, he spoke again. “I’m gonna need your shirt off.”

Lio grumbled about it being freezing in the room. Meis and Gueira moved in closer to their boss. Even when annoyed with his behavior, they stuck by his side like velcro. Galo really admired the intense loyalty pulsing off them in waves. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts about it that he was almost startled when Lio’s hand found his own again. 

Galo couldn’t help but smile at the sight - Meis and Gueira may be like velcro to the Burnish leader but with every day that passed since the Second Blaze Galo thought more and more that he and Lio were magnets. Somehow they always found each other.

His smile disappeared once his eyes left their hands and found Lio’s body.

Somehow, the sheer number and sizes of bruises on Lio’s upper torso made his face look even worse. The vast majority of his bare skin had been hidden under long sleeves and the tight v-neck, but there were marks of every variety all the way up his arms and his sides splattered in large, purple patches. 

“Okay, now your hands again?” Lio raised his hands up as before, reluctantly leaving Galo’s grip once more. “Just as I thought. Doctor, make note: a series of self-inflicted scratch marks on present on-”

“I **did not** do this to myself!” The other man jumped at the sudden venom being fired his way. “Do you honestly think I would do this to myself?! For what purpose?! This is **_humiliating-!_ **”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Georigios exclaimed back, hands up in concerned surrender. “I didn’t say any of that!”

“You _just_ said-!”

“Just the scratches! They match with your fingernails!” 

Lio’s anger halted, bringing his hands back up to his collarbone and straining his neck to see for himself.

“He’s right, Lio,” Galo told him. Though most of the lines were criss-crossed and disorganized, there was a distinct shortage of long, red lines where his missing fingernails would be.

Lio glared. “Even so, I wouldn’t do this to myself on purpose. I-!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he repeated. “I know that! They’re _defensive_ wounds!” When Lio said nothing in response (which Galo supposed was his version of calming down at the moment), he went on. “When someone’s got their hands around your throat, your instinct is to try to pull them off, right?” He mimed grabbing at invisible wrists just under his jaw. “When you pull and lose your grip-” Georgios lets his hands smack against his chest. “They tend to end up right here, especially if you’re on your back. Some people even try to claw at their own throats. It’s very common in cases like these!”

“He’s not accusing you of anything,” Galo tried, to which Georgios nodded.

“Any wound you get as a result of trying to defend yourself counts as a defensive wound, kinda.”

“Kinda?” Lio bit out.

Georgios rubbed at his neck anxiously. “Well, the definition gets a little fuzzy when it comes to wounds one gets from trying to escape versus shielding your face or something. Your missing nails may fall under the same category. Do you remember what happened to them?”

Lio started to answer, mood still bitter and angry-

_He was being pulled back, dragged along the floor. In a panic, he reached out to the nearest thing. The brick wall of the fireplace provided little purchase now that he was too far along to grab an edge, but his desperate body tried anyways, his other hand digging into the hardwood floor. He clawed into the surfaces so hard that-_

Lio’s mouth snapped shut, biting the inside of his cheek. “...I think I do, yes.” he answered after a long pause. “I was… trying to get away. It’s not like I noticed at the time, so I’m not sure, so that would be my best guess. It was right before he broke my ankle.”

Gueira’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Before he did what now?”

“And that’s the one that hurts currently.” Georgios stated, more of a confirmation than a question.

“And your pain level is only at a three.” Meis joined in.

Lio flushed, stare focused in on his only remaining shoe. “It may be higher than a three…”

“That’s what I thought.”

“How did he break your ankle?” Gueira asked, pitch rising in worry.

“Does it really matter?” Lio muttered.

“Yes, it actually might.” Gio told him, stooping down to his knees. “I’m gonna work your shoe offa ya’, okay? Tell me what happened.”

Lio flinched away. “It’s fine. I can move it.” To demonstrate, Lio wiggle his foot up and down, but no one missed the poorly-concealed pained look flash across his face. “It’s not broken.”

“Oh, I don’t think so either, but I still gotta check.”

“Plus we can’t get your jeans off with the shoe in the way.” It was only when Lucia had several people turn to look at her did she realize that no one wanted to hear that particular comment she made. “For pictures,” she tried to clarify. “You still want pictures for proof, right?”

Lio sighed, sounding more and more defeated as time went on. “I’ve come this far, haven’t I?”

Gueira hesitated. “Boss, you really don’t have to-”

“I’ve come this far, haven’t I?” he repeated, more stern this time. “I’m not letting all this bullshit go to waste. I need everything in my arsenal if what Ardebit said is true.”

“We don’t even know if it _is_ true,” Meis pointed out lowly. 

“Then we’ve done all this for nothing, but at least we’ll have something to show for it.”

“On that note,” the EMT interrupted kindly. “I can either _take_ your shoe off, or I can _cut_ your shoe off.”

Lio looked a bit bewildered at that, unsure if it was a joke or not. 

“He’ll do it,” Galo told him with a solemn nod. “He’s got special scissors for it and everything.”

“...Why do you know this?” Lio queried. 

“I’ve had some EMT training myself!” Galo answered. “All of Burning Rescue has! We have a pair in our first aid kits too!”

Georgios, however, had a different answer. “I had to cut him out of his boots once. A bunch of us guys in our training days made a bet of who could stand in fresh concrete the longest.”

Under the many judging stares, Galo crossed his arms and had the audacity to look proud of himself. “And I won the bet.”

“You sure did,” he replied with a laugh. “So, Lio, what’ll be?” 

“...I like these shoes,” he mumbled.

“You got them out of a donation bin like the rest of our clothes,” Gueira reminded him. 

“They _fit_ me,” he argued. “Do you know how hard it is to find anything that _fits_ me?” 

“Alright, I’ll go slow, okay? Just-” Before anyone could stop him, Lio pulled his foot up and yanked his shoe off in one, clean motion. He immediately stiffened, not even a breath leaving him as he squeezed his eyes shut. Slowly, he lowered his leg back down, placing the black sneaker besides him.

“If you’d given me the chance I would’ve told you not to do that,” Gerogios said, recovering from his slight shock at the scene. “If it really was broken you would’ve made it a hell’of’a lot worse.”

“I was just going to offer to buy you new shoes!” Galo exclaimed.

“Shoes are _expensive_ ,” Lio seethed shakily. “I’ve had a lot worse. This is nothing.”

“It doesn’t _matter_ \- Who are you competing with here?!”

“I don’t know, Galo!” he snapped. “Who were you competing with when you apparently sealed yourself to the ground with concrete!”

“ _I_ was competing with five other guys for a month’s worth of my lunches to be paid for! Don’t even try to tell me you wouldn’t take that bet!”

Lio fumed silently, refusing to dignify the statement with an answer.

After getting his sock off and rolling up the cuff of his pants, Georgios looked back up at the other seriously. “So. What happened.”

Lio looked down. The bruise looked more like he had been smeared with the darkest charcoal than anything else. Black and purple coals burned under his skin there, deep down to his bones. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. He broke it.”

“How.”

Something in Lio’s heart boiled. “He had me up against the bottom of the fireplace. He kicked into my ankle until it snapped against the edge of the bricks. Happy? Why does it matter?”

“Was there any bone sticking out?” 

His head fell into his hands with a frustrated groan. At the same time Meis asked if this line of questioning was really necessary. “I don’t know, I didn’t take the time to look - too busy trying not to _die_. Next time I had a chance the Flames had already healed everything.”

“And what about your side?”

“That’s an old injury! It didn’t even happen that day! He threw me against the kitchen counter once and it hurt ever since then up until I Flared!” He frantically gestured to his left side, which was considerably less marked than the other. “See? There’s hardly anything there! It’s probably unrelated!”

“G, don’t you think this is a little much?” Galo warned him gently, a direct contrast to Lio’s rising tension. 

“Look, I’m not a doctor yet, but I think I have a theory,” Georgios told him. “I think your mad-science-thing just _seriously_ aggravated some scar tissue you didn’t know you had. It would explain why the pain is centralized only around the more traumatic injuries where surrounding muscle would’ve been severely damaged. The fact that an ‘old injury’ is giving you trouble despite not being summoned by this little experiment makes me think I’m right.” He gave a hopeful, crooked smile. “And if I’m right: it means that the pain should just go away and you don’t have anything to worry about for the most part. It’s _good_ news.”

“That’s impossible,” Meis countered, slashing the optimism down in an instant. 

At the same time, Gueira expressed much of the same sentiment. “That’s dumb as hell! The flames heal everything! As long as you are able to burn, you’re able to heal!”

“Not necessarily,” Heris offered, piping up with enthusiasm. “The Promare healed surface wounds rapidly and took care of the most serious parts of life-threatening injuries first and foremost, but it took a lot of energy to do so! So the Promare would intelligently choose which parts of a wound to focus on with tremendous force with priority so that it could save its host! Then, it would go back after it’s stored up more energy to, at a later point, heal the... other parts… slower…”

She trailed off under the concerned looks of the others in the room and fell completely quiet under the smoldering stares of the two generals.

“Yeah, you would know about that, wouldn’t you?” Gueira hissed roughly.

“The point is,” Meis said, pulling the attention back to the EMT. “As long as you burn, the Flames had energy to heal. There would’ve been no time for our own bodies to even think about scaring.”

“That’s right!” his partner asserted, folding his arms smugly. “And Boss burned brighter than all of us. Right, Boss?” When he was met with cold silence, his arrogant demeanor fell. “Boss?”

Lio didn’t reply, gaze locked down on his knees. His hand floated upwards towards where his earring once was. He covered it quickly by tucking a strand behind his ear, but Galo saw it all the same.

Meis was the first to speak. “Boss, you burned, right?”

“Of course he burned!” Gueira jumped to answer. “He Flared, so he burned! You can’t Flare if you don’t burn!”

“But afterwards? When everything was over?”

“Of course he did. Your whole body is screaming at you to burn, you know that! Why wouldn’t you burn? Who has that kinda bullshit defiance in them?!”

“Kray did.” Lio said. At the mere mention of the name, Gueira looked slapped. “There may have been a time right after where I tried not to… Burn, I mean.”

The generals’ expressions quickly turned to ones of despair. 

“Why?” Gueira’s tone was soaked in sorrow, but it dripped anger. “Why would you do that?”

“I thought… maybe… I’d stop being Burnish if I didn’t.”

Galo thought that even if the man ripped into the center of his own chest and crushed whatever he found there, Gueira couldn’t possibly look more heartbroken. 

“But you _loved_ being Burnish!”

“I do!” Lio met his eye to make the exclamation, but quickly looked away, unable to face what he saw in them. “I did. I still do. But at the time I was…” He hesitated, biting back unsavory words. “...less enthused. I suppose.”

“...I can’t believe this.” Gueria, not waiting for an answer, started his hasty exit, storming out of the room, slamming open the door so hard it bounced back halfway on its swing out and clapped back against the frame. 

“Gueira, wait!” Lio started to haul himself up to go after him, but both Galo and Meis hurried to stop him.

“I’ll talk with him,” Meis said. “We’ll head home, and I can check on you later, alright?” Lio nodded, but he looked sick while doing so. Before he left, he fixed Galo with a silent, but hard stare. 

In response, Galo gave a single nod. Satisfied, Meis walked away, only to jump back as soon as he was out the door. Lurching forward, he grabbed her arm in the middle of her attempted escape and all but threw Aleka into the room.

Lio’s mood immediately shifted, tone dangerous as he spat out her name. She spun around only to be halted by Meis presence, covering the doorway like a spider on a web. Once she realized she was surrounded, she turned back around to face her main antagonist. Her posture was obscenely confident, but Galo could see a crack in her expression - just enough of a wavering in her gaze that distracted him from his anger at the situation.

The only thing Lio noticed was that she was standing there before him. “Have you been hiding behind the door like _a rat_ this whole time?!”

“Please, don’t lower the standard of rats down to someone like her,” Lucia said, glaring at the other woman. “Ain’t eavesdropping a big HIPAA violation or something?”

“Uh, not really,” Georgios answered, confused. “Who is this?”

“His sister,” Galo tried to whisper.

“Lio’s sister?”

“ _Absolutely not_ ,” Lio hissed. “ _His_ sister. The bastard who _did_ this to me.”

The man looked back to her with a grimace. “Oh, so you’re the girl who started all this mess.”

“I started nothing,” she snapped. “And my brother did not do-” She stopped short, as if the sight of Lio’s battered body up close caused her to trip over her words. “He didn’t do anything of the sort to you.”

“ _Bullshit_.” he spat. “Get out. I’m not interested in trying to convince you. I’m not wasting anymore of my breath trying to get you to believe me.”

She shook her head rapidly, refusing to hear it. “I have been sitting here listening to you tell lie after lie about him as if he isn’t dead in the ground because of you!”

“For what reason would I have to lie?! Nothing I say changes any outcome and it just makes me feel more and more _small_ -”

“He made so many goddamn sacrifices for you and _how dare_ you soil his name now-!”

“You think I want for this to be going on right now?! If I _really_ killed him in cold blood I’d be skipping town right now! I wouldn’t just be sticking around to see how things would play out!“

“He was _not_ a criminal! He would never do anything so heinous-”

Aleka’s remaining words were shook out of her mouth like a stubborn sauce bottle as she suddenly found herself lifted and upside down over Galo’s shoulder.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to the room. The end of his sentence was slightly covered by the sudden and shrill screaming Aleka unleashed.

“ _Put me down right now!!_ ” 

“Galo, wai-” With no one to stop him, Lio managed to get up only to collapse once more, hissing out expletives as Georigos and Lucia rushed to help him back up. Meis also hurried to his side, clearing the doorway for Galo who had started to walk back to him in worry only to be stopped by Lio’s surprisingly pleading eyes. “Galo, she-”

“Don’t worry, firebug! I’m not gonna throw her off the roof or anything!” To that, Lio seemed to relax. “I’m just going to escort her out, since she clearly needs the help. I’ll be back before you know it, okay?”

Lio paused, as if he were considering other options (if there were even any to consider, as Galo couldn’t think of any himself), before nodding in agreement. Tossing out one more promise to return quickly, he started his jog to the building’s exit, the jostling only encouraging the small woman to shriek even harder. 

Remi had stuck his head out of his office, clearly having heard the approaching onslaught of swears and demands from Aleka over his shoulder. 

“Found a rat,” Galo told him simply, bouncing her roughly to get her to shut up. “Wouldn’t want Vinny to get jealous. I’m releasing her back into the wild.”

“Captain and I are gonna need a rundown on all this,” Remi replied.

Galo gave him a thumbs up as he passed.

About halfway to the exit Aleka had started to kick him, finally struggling in earnest to escape his grip. About a third of the way she had started to cry.

“Don’t do that,” Galo groaned at her. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused for everyone? I can think of a handful of people who have more of a reason to cry. And at least one of them is me!”

Aleka’s response was only to sob harder into his back. Galo’s shoulder sagged. His head told him to ignore her. She was an awful person who hurt Lio and he should just kick her out and forget as much about her as he could. His heart, however - or perhaps it was his burning soul - told him something very different.

“Goddamnit,” he scowled. “Goddamnit. Goddamnit. Here-” He stopped in the break area, standing in front of the couch Aina all but claimed to herself for naps and for watching what she insisted were _very important cute cat videos._ “I swear to all that is good that if this is a trick I really will consider maybe throwing you off the roof.”

He lifted her up, all but tossed her down, and cringed at her ugly, crying face, smooshed together like a smashed penny.

“Uhh, here…” He said, offering her a nearby tissue box. She took it without pause in her crying, only managing to get out a sentence after she had blown her nose several times. It made Galo’s itch under its brace. 

“He was-! He was a nice-! A really nice person!” she sobbed.

“Who? Lio? Of course he is-”

“No! My brother! Ellias!”

Galo sighed as she sniffled and hiccuped, sitting down heavily beside her. “What? Was Lio not a nice person when you knew him?”

“He killed my brother!” she shouted, the very words offending her. Galo, however, maintained that he was unaffected by the outburst, even if he did lean away a bit at the sheer volume of it all.

“And before that?”

“What?”

“Before that? Did you not think Lio was nice before that?”

She looked away, fidgeting with the gross tissues in her hand angrily. Galo nudged over a wastebasket with his foot. “...thank you,” she said, much quieter than before. “It doesn’t matter what I thought of him before. He killed Ellias, he took _everything_ from me. I’ll never forgive him for that.”

“What would you have him do? In that sort of situation?”

“There was no ‘ _situation’_ to be in!” she snapped, whip-like words damped by her constant sniffing. “He would never do something like that! The marks, the bruises- what people are saying- it’s all fake! It _has_ to be!” She broke off, tears rising back up to cut her short.

Slowly, with those words, Galo was starting to understand, and he felt himself fill up with trepidation at the unwanted realization.

“It ’has’ to be?” he echoed. “Why does it ‘have’ to be?”

She shook her head, biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut tight. “He wasn’t _bad._ He wasn’t like that- it’s impossible. He’s lying, they’re all _lying_.”

“You know... there’s all these papers saying that they were married and-”

“Lio knew about that!” she insisted.

“Okay, well… You were there, right?” he tried asking instead. “When they were signed?”

“Of course I was.” She sniffed, smearing tears off her cheeks with her hands. “I was a witness.” 

“And Lio was there too?”

To this, she hesitated. “He… he knew about it.”

“But he wasn’t there?” 

“He knew about it!” She hiccuped, shaking her head again. “They had to get married for Lio to be on his health insurance! He was sick all the time! He couldn’t do a lot of things!”

“And who told you that?” Galo urged. “Who told you that he was too sick to be there?”

Once more Galo saw her bite her lip hard, the corners of her eyes scrunching up with the effort to keep more tears back. “Ellias took care of him,” she managed to get out. “He showed up at my dorm and asked me to sign things, so I did. My brother wouldn’t lie to me. When our parents died, he took care of me! He busted his ass to make sure we had everything we could need - until I could stand on my own two feet. He was the _greatest_ . He wouldn’t ever do those things. It makes no sense! He _wouldn’t_ lie to me.”

Galo watched her shoulders shake, and felt a deep disappointment in himself when he realized he felt bad for her. He was supposed to hate Aleka, or at the very least dislike her. It was because of her that the love of his life was going through another layer of hell, because of her that his own days had been altered for the worse. 

Still... He knew that it wasn’t like she was entirely and solely responsible. To blame her now would be like blaming the tree that fell onto his house instead of the wind that blew it over.

“Sometimes…” he began, paying extra heed in choosing his words. “Sometimes people aren’t who you think they are. And even if you love them a lot, and look up to them a lot, they still let you down. Sometimes, even the good things that people have done don’t outweigh the bad things they did too. No matter how much it hurts us, we don’t get to decide how other people are… sometimes they just are.”

Aleka had fallen considerably more quiet as she listened; her crying finally slowing to a ceasefire.

“Look,” he said, turning to her fully. “I don’t know if he’s been talking to you or not, but Kray is one of those people. He’ll lift you up by his own hands but he’ll crush you in his fists when he sees fit. If he’s offering you any sort of counsel, you can’t trust anything he says.”

“I wasn’t planning on listening to that guy,” she murmured. “I know the papers look bad, but he did it to take care of him… He wouldn’t- Ellias wouldn’t…” She exhaled, long and deep, from breaths Galo didn’t even see her hold-in. She plucked another tissue from the box and dabbed at the last tears around her sea-shore eyes. “I’m at the end of my rope. I don’t know what to do.”

This annoyed Galo more than he thought it would’ve. “Yeah, you do.” he found himself saying. “You do know what to do. You just don’t want to do it.” Aleka looked down at her lap, ashamed. “Just because it’s _hard_ doesn’t mean you can just choose to not do it. That’s really fucking selfish of you.”

There was a substantial and complex silence that fell between them at the statement. It seemed as vast as a desert at first, but when it ended Galo realized that it was about as deep as any lake he’d expect to find there.

“...Thank you for your...escort,” Aleka said. She recovered, albeit a bit shakily, standing up from her seat. “I’ll… I’ll be leaving now.”

And Aleka, unlike her ruinous family, was true to her word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Galo: yous’guys ain’t no match against my superior grade talk-no-jutsu
> 
> meanwhile -
> 
> Meis: Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!
> 
> Lio: yes, I have.
> 
> Gueira: Look!
> 
> Lio: ...Just a flesh wound.  
> \---
> 
> I stan for emotionally-intelligent Galo. #GaloForPresident2020
> 
> Stay safe out there, everyone.


	13. I Feel Bad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today has been -a day-

After everything that happened, the last thing Lio wanted to do is talk. To anyone. But once Galo had him tucked in bed like he was a sick child and gave him that  _ look _ Lio knew he couldn’t avoid it.

“I’m sorry,” he said to him.

Galo arched an eyebrow. “Do you even know what you’re apologizing for?”

“You’re cross with me.”

“I’m... what?”

Lio sighed. “You’re angry with me.”

“Well, A: that’s not automatically a reason for you to apologize,” he said, shifting in his seat on the edge of the mattress. “And B: I’m not mad at you. I’m…  _ sad _ at you.”

Lio closed his eyes, as if the ridiculous phrase exhausted him. 

“You know what Georgios told me? Before he left?”

“I’ll give you fifty dollars if you can hang upside-down like a bat longer than I can?”

Galo snorted. “Hey, if those government assholes said they’d accept whatever proposal you wanted if you beat them in a game of Mario Kart, would you or would you not take that bet?”

Lio pursed his lips, but a faint smile bleed through. “I may consider it.”

“See! I don’t do stupid shit just for fun, you know.”

“To be fair, you do some pretty stupid shit just for fun as well.”

“That’s only as practice for the  _ serious  _ stupid shit.” Lio rolled his eyes, but his grin was wider. Galo felt bad for the mood he was about to ruin. “G told me that the kind of marks on you are the ones he usually saw when it was too late.”

In his head, Galo recalled the exact words.  _ “These wounds are something I’d see on corpses.” _

Sure enough, Lio’s smile dissipated like sugar in water. “I suppose that makes sense. I probably was moments from death, if not less. But you don’t need to worry; everything seems to be mostly faded now, including my pain.” He shrugged. “It’s all over with now.”

“Maybe.” Galo replied, unconvinced. “I talked to Aleka.”

“Did you talk to her or did you talk at her?” he queried with a skeptical look. “Did you give her one of Galo’s Trademarked Lectures on Morality and Justice?”

Galo rubbed at his neck anxiously. “Kinda? She actually talked to me more than I talked to her, I think.”

Lio frowned at that. “What did she say?”

“Well, she was crying a lot.”

“Crocodile tears,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“You think so?” Galo asked. “I know you don’t really hate her.” When Lio gave no response, he added, “I could see that you were worried for her, when you thought I was gonna yeet her out the window or something.”

“You looked furious,” he told him. 

“I was furious,” Galo said matter-of-factly.

Lio offered a sad smile. “It’s… hard. For me to. Hate her, I mean.”

“Were you guys close? You know… before it all.”

“Not really,” he replied with a shrug. “I mean… Besides Ellias, she was really the only other person I had to talk to. It’s hard to say if we were really close or not because of that, but… I don’t know. She welcomed me into their family like I had always been there. She was fun to be around and always had these hilarious stories to tell. She liked board games despite being absolutely awful at them, but Ellias was even worse and she’d tease him… It was sweet to watch.” He sighed deeply, the happiness that came with the reminiscing blown away. “I never had siblings, so I really don’t know what it would feel like for certain, but at times I thought it would be a lot like that. But all that has been… sort of ruined. Even if I think of it positively it’s like a rose with thorns. It’s painful to hold onto now.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lio scoffed. “Now, do  _ you  _ even know what you’re apologising for?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry that you’re hurting because she handled everything so poorly.”

“Is that what you’d call it?” he asked with a bitter laugh.

Galo’s hands floated out in front of him, gesturing at nothing. “I don’t know how else to describe it. She seemed to  _ know _ , you know? Like she just didn’t want to accept that her bro was a complete psycho even though she knew he was.”

“Am I supposed to be sympathetic to such a thing?” Lio muttered, pulling his knees up so that he could rest his arms on them.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t,” Galo replied, cocking his head to the side thoughtfully “But, you know, she kinda reminded me of myself.”

The look Lio gave him was one of unamused suspicion. “I find that hard to believe.”

“You asked me how I was able to see Kray for who he really was so easily, remember? I said it was because I had you.”

“...You did say something like that, yes.” He averted his gaze once more, not entirely happy with the direction of Galo’s logic.

“Well, I don’t think she has a Lio,” he said. “It really doesn’t seem like she has anyone.”

“She has a whole mob of people,” he reminded bitterly. “And Foresight too, possibly.”

“Oh, I did kinda ask about that too.” Lio looked back up at him expectedly. “I told her not to trust him, and she said that she ‘wasn’t planning on listening to him anyway’ without me having to explain what I meant, so…”

“So it’s true then,” Lio finished. “He was talking to her.”

“In some sort of sense, I guess. Yeah.”

“Horrid coffin dodger,” Lio cursed. “A vulture. I hope he remains conscious through every second when his body rots.”

Galo  _ hmm _ ed in agreement. A natural quiet came between them, but Lio wasn’t so sure it was a comfortable one.

“There’s something else, isn’t there.” he said. “Something else that you want to say?”

“Well…” Galo hesitated. He rubbed his hands against the legs of his pants as if he was brushing away dust, though there was nothing there. “It was painful seeing you like that today.”

“I would imagine.”

“No, but like…” Once more, Galo’s hands hovered out in front of his face, trying to grab onto something that simply wasn’t there. Or maybe it was. Galo didn’t know either way - it was hard to when he didn’t know what exactly he was reaching for. “I just don’t _get_ _it,_ Lio. I don’t get why you torture yourself like this. You didn’t have to go through with all that, I could tell you hated every bit of it, and you didn’t _have_ to do it!”

“There are lots of times in life where people have to do things they don’t like,” Lio pointed out, annoyed. 

“Yeah, but I’m not talking about things like taxes or going to the doctors! You didn’t  _ have  _ to do this! It’s like you don’t care what happens to you - do you have any idea how upsetting that is?” 

“Well, I’m sorry that it has upset you, but it’s not like I had any say in what would happen-”

“You did though!” he argued. “No one knew what that thing was gonna do, but at any point you could’ve told people to get the hell away from you! You could’ve told everyone to leave and stop hovering over you, you could’ve demanded privacy or you could’ve told Georgios to fuck off and demanded that I take you home!”

“If I did that then it all would’ve been a waste!” Lio snapped.

“Avoiding pain and suffering and misery isn’t a waste!” Galo shot back. “ _ Not  _ traumatizing yourself is far from being a waste!”

“I’m not-” Lio laughed, hollow and sarcastic. “I’m not  _ traumatised- _ ”

“I carried you up here,” Galo interrupted boldly. “I carried you to my bike. I've had you pressed against me since we left the station and you haven’t stopped shaking once.”

It was a critical blow to Lio’s pride, Galo could see that much in his expression. At first it was horribly pained, but that was quickly smothered by the fury at the insult. He expected Lio to lash out, strike with some snide and, admittedly, clever comeback. 

“Get out.” is what he seethed instead. “I need space. Get out.”

“Okay, I will.” Galo said forthrightly. Standing up to leave, he added on haughtily, “Thank you for being honest and telling me so.”

He could tell it only pissed Lio off more, but Galo couldn’t help the smug feeling of “haha, got’cha” that burned in him when he left and closed the door behind him. The longer he sat on the couch, however, the more that feeling simmered out into something that burned less like fire and more like acid. 

The next time he heard anything from Lio was near dinner time, and it was a heavy thud and a hushed swear. Reopening the door, he saw the man in a heap on the floor, legs tangled up in the sheets.

“Are you okay?” Galo asked, making his way over.

“Yes,” came the muffled reply, face pressed into blankets and the hardwood. Lio lifted himself up just enough to be properly heard. “My ankle is still sore after all this time. Only a little, but it surprised me and then I got caught up like this.”

Galo started to move the offending fabric aside, but he stopped just as quickly as he started. Looking down at Lio from his stooped position, he asked pointedly: “Do you need help?”

At first, Lio just glared. He knew the other man was trying to teach him a lesson and he didn’t appreciate being treated like a child in need of learning how to behave, but if it was one thing Galo had him beat on it was stubbornness. He knew that Galo would not budge. Finally, with a sigh, Lio relented. “...Yes.”

“Okay then. Thank you for telling me.” After untangling and helping Lio to his feet, he asked why he was getting out of bed in the first place.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he answered. “Preferably on the couch, I’m sick of laying down.” Lio was already on his way to the living room when he added, “Don’t worry, pain’s really not that bad. Honestly.”

“If you say so.” Galo followed him, watching carefully for any signs of a limp. Once Lio had settled in at the end of the sofa, elbow firmly stabbed into the arm of the couch as he rested his head on his curled fist, Galo took a seat right in the center cushion and waited.

At first, Lio was silent and unmoving. Grinding up raw emotion between his teeth, crushing them into careful words. Slowly, he sat up straighter and he began. “I…” His teeth gritted, and Galo could see wiry muscles move under his skin in his neck, to his shoulders, all the way down his arms to his fingers. It was like watching Sisyphus take those first agonizing steps up the mountain, pushing the massive weight with all his strength. 

“I feel…  _ small. _ ” A breath escaped Lio like that weight just kicked back into his stomach. The small phrase had apparently been pulled out of the depths of his being with a jagged hook and line and had taken the effort of at least ten men to wrangle it out into the open. “I... _ feel _ … Like I can’t… control  _ anything. _ ”

“But you are small,” Galo said wisely, to which Lio immediately responded by whipping his head around to stare at the man with a positively homicidal force. He scrambled to recover. “Physically! I mean!” That, unsurprisingly, did little to placate the other. “But, uh, also? Metaphorically too? You know, you can’t do... everything. Right? You’re just one person, Lio.”

The former Burnish relaxed just a tiny bit, but it wasn’t enough for Galo to avoid his rightful insult. “You idiot. Do you ever speak  _ after  _ thinking, or do you just always say whatever you feel and hope it’s the right thing?”

“Probably the last one,” he replied sheepishly. “Was I close though? Was it the right thing to say?”

“The right thing to say was nothing,” Lio fumed. “This is-” he stopped for a moment, getting a hold of the sadness that flashed across his eyes. “ _ So _ incredibly difficult for me-”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Then, upon realizing what he did yet again, repeated the apology. “Sorry. I’ll be quiet. Let me know when you’re ready for me to uh,” he made swooping motions with his hand, “come back in, to the, uh, convo.”

After a second of silence, Lio opened up the eyes he had squeezed shut at the latest interruption, looking out into the space in front of him.

“I feel… Like I have no control of anything anymore. And because of that, I feel  _ small _ . Insignificant. I don’t know how to do anything, I’m not strong anymore, there’s hardly a thing I can do by myself and what I  _ can  _ manage to do is never  _ enough. _ ” Lio paused, blinking quickly. When he started again his voice shook. “ _ I _ was never enough. No matter what I did it was never enough. Not to anyone. No matter how many times I did what I was told, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how hard I  _ fought _ , I… I was never-” Lio grasped desperately hard at his chest, bunching up his shirt right over his heart as if he were trying to reach it, trying to find the wound that it surely must have for it to cause him so much agony in that very moment. “All my life. I was never enough. And I just- I just wanted to be-”

Lio folded, unable to take anymore. Galo quickly swept him up in his arms to lean against him as he trembled, red eyes burning with the tears rolling down his face. As much as Galo knew acting without thinking screwed him over more often than not, pulling Lio into his hold was as natural as breathing to him, no thought required. Lio didn’t appear to mind it this time. In fact, he seemed to need it. He moved to cling to him much like how he dug so deeply into himself only seconds before. 

Watching the man who Galo believed whole-heartedly was larger than life crumble to pieces for the second time in a day made his heart feel like it was going to implode and take the universe around him with it. It was at that moment that Galo finally understood the reason why Lio never asked for help.

Galo’s life was not much to be envied, he figured that much, but he also knew that he was incredibly fortunate, given the circumstances. He knows now that he saved himself from the fire that took his family. He knows now that if Kray hadn’t been passing by he wouldn’t have needed to be saved from anything at all. It was a cruel game of chance and coincidence manipulated by a more powerful figure to his advantage. Galo knew that now, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t aware of the privileges that trickled down to him as a result. 

If his house was burned by any other fire - hell, any other Burnish - Galo would’ve been dumped into the foster system and forgotten. Instead, he became Kray’s ward of state - the boy the brilliant inventor and eventual governor saved. Galo couldn’t slip through the cracks with a title like that to hold him up. He still bounced from home to home around Promepolois, but he knew it was Kray’s doing that kept him in the city and with good people. He knew it was Kray’s money that paid for his schooling in decent schools instead of wherever he would happen to land. It was his money and recommendation that got him accepted into rescue training instead of Galo having to work three jobs to avoid sleeping on the street as soon as he turned eighteen. It was on Kray’s word that he got into Burning Rescue Station 3 - or any station at all. 

He had hit the ground running and knowing that a large amount of obstacles had been cleared for him and that he had avoided all the cleverly placed pitfalls by sheer, dumb luck had the finish line looking hollow and pointless. In spite of this and all of Kray’s terrible, horrible motives, Galo knew he had a head start in life. 

Lio, from all that Galo had learned, had been shot in the leg from the word “go” and had to violently drag himself through all the bear traps and barricades purposely placed on his track in an outright attempt to halt his progress completely. Every time he changed course he’d be met with different forces, but every one held him back all the same. A boy from a well-off family, a young man with endless freetime living rent free with his boyfriend, an all powerful being of fire and might; the knowledge that he  _ should’ve  _ had an easier run was always hanging over him like a guillotine. He could’ve had a far less difficult life, but for some reason - a reason that Lio had no other choice but to attribute to himself - he was not permitted to. 

Lio never asked for help because he was never allowed to have it.

“The last time I felt  _ enough _ was when I was Burnish,” Lio told him, waterlogged voice making his tone hushed. “I could do anything. I could help people - but even then we lost so many lives and now I can barely convince these assholes to give shelter to my people. I was stupid to believe that I had changed - I never changed,  _ I  _ was never enough, it was the Promare. And now they’re gone and I’m just me again.”

“Can I say something?” Galo thankfully remembered to keep his word on letting Lio speak. He felt the other man shrug against him. “You’re an amazing leader, Lio. That’s got nothing to do with the Promare, okay? That’s all you.”

“Some leader,” Lio scoffed. “I’m a wreck.”

“I mean, yeah, but you’re trying not to be. That’s really all anyone can ask of you right now. I really don’t think anyone would be able to handle all this any better than you have.”

“You could.”

The unexpected compliment surprised Galo. “I.. I don’t think so?”

“Sure you could. You never denied Kray’s true nature, never tried to convince yourself he was good despite it all. You opened your home to me the very first moment you could, you’re clearly not afraid to love me - or anyone really. You’re understanding and forgiving without suspicion holding you down. You punched a dragon made of fire in the face. You saved my life. You've been through so much and yet you still seem so… happy.” 

“I’m not… happy all the time.”

“I know,” Lio said quietly. “But I’m  _ not happy  _ all the time.”

Galo took in a deep breath, steeling himself against the stabbing he felt in his chest. “I really,  _ really _ wish you would’ve told me that you were feeling this bad.”

Lio gave another morose shrug. “I don’t think I knew myself until recently. I thought I was doing fine.”

“I think your baseline may be jacked up. When was the last time you were actually feeling ‘fine’ for real?” Lio let out a small, breathy laugh. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just… that therapist asked me something similar,” he said. “I really don’t know.”

“You said when you were Burnish you felt like enough, but you were afraid of being Burnish, weren’t you?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.” Galo said more firmly. “You said ‘less enthused’ but what you meant was scared.”

Lio, at first, didn’t answer, moving to run his fingers over his own hands. “I hope it grows back.”

Galo didn’t appreciate the attempt to deflect his question, but he wasn’t going to try and take the reins of the conversation so quickly from Lio while he was in such a suddenly fragile state. Instead, he gently took the hand with the two missing nails, two fingers bandaged up earlier by Galo’s own gentle touch.

“I’m sure they will,” he reassured.

“No, I mean  _ this  _ nail.” Lio explained. He traced over his left ring finger, brushing over Galo’s hand. 

“The one the grew back funny?”

“I hope it comes back the same as it was. It was like the Flames didn’t want me to forget them. I don’t want to lose a memento like that.” 

He slowly threaded his fingers through Galo’s, who all but melted into the smaller man. 

_ ‘That’s right,’  _ he remembered with a relieved smile.  _ ‘It  _ was  _ Lio who started this last time.’ _

“I was afraid,” Lio told him softly. “I was terrified of being Burnish at first. But it was only for a little while, before I really knew what I could do.” Then, Lio’s tone turned a lot more somber. “I was so afraid of admitting it that I didn’t have enough time to explain myself. Now Gueira thinks…”

Galo squeezed the other in closer to him, resting his chin on his shoulder. “It’s not too late to tell him-” Galo stopped when Lio suddenly gave a hard shudder that Galo felt go all the way down the shorter man’s spine.

Galo blinked, turning his head to peer curiously at Lio. However, he had turned his face out of sight and the only thing Galo could see was his burning ears.

“You idiot,” he could hear the other scowl. “You’re so close. Watch where you’re breathing.”

“Breathing?” he spoke, to which Lio stiffened and leaned as far away as he could within the circle of his arms. All at once, the dots connected in Galo’s head and a coy grin quickly took over his face. “What, you mean like this?”

He blew a small stream of air onto Lio's neck, who squirmed as if he was being shocked with a quiet yelp.

“Galo!” he hissed, rising up to his knees. Galo relented with a giggle, sliding his arms down to wrap snugly around the other’s waist. 

“You look so cute when you blush.” In response, Lio’s face grew even hotter. “If I had known that earlier I would’ve been teasing you a lot more.”

“Please.” Lio grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, Lio?”

“What.”

“Can I kiss you?” 

Lio turned in his arms, meeting his eye with a befuddled look. “You really don’t have to ask.”

“Sure, I do.”

“I’m not that delicate.”

“It’s not a matter of that,” Galo whined. “Consent is sexy.”

“Ugh,” Lio groaned. “You’re so obnoxious.”

“Can I kiss you or not?” He tapped a single finger right on Lio’s forehead over his bangs. “Right here.”

Lio sighed, before rolling his shoulders back and straightening his spine. Standing up as tall as he could while kneeling on the couch and with an arm still wrapped around his middle. “Galo Thymos, I hereby give you permission to kiss me whenever you see fit.” Lio peered down at the man staring back up at him like a puppy begging table-side. “Within reason, of course.”

“Lio Fotia, I hereby give you permission to kick me square in the dick if I ever misjudge what reasons to be within.”

A laugh burst out of him, too strong for him to try and prevent it. “You’re so ridiculous! I don’t even think that was proper English!”

Giggling sweetly, Galo brushed Lio bangs back and planted a gentle kiss right in the middle of his temple. He let his lips linger there for a moment, feeling the rare warmth that emanate from the other. When he pulled back, he found Lio looked somewhere between embarrassed and pleased. 

“My turn,” he said, impish. “Can I kiss you?”

“Of course you can.” As soon as he finished, his lips were captured. Hands were delicately run up his arms, over his shoulder and around his neck, grazing the hairs at the base of his head. 

Galo brought Lio even closer to him, hands running up to feel how his back bowed a little to accommodate how Galo pressed forward, like young bamboo in a breeze. Galo held him up as much as Lio pulled him down. Galo kept him from falling as much as Lio kept him from floating away.

“God, I love you,” Galo murmured to him in between the small pecks he left along his jaw. “ _ So _ much.”

Lio laughter started quiet before hopping up into a higher octave in surprise when Galo’s breath ghosted over his neck again. Galo relented, pulling away to look at Lio’s face, borderline pouting over the teasing. 

“You really are an ‘all in’ kind of guy, huh?” he said, wry smile taking shape. 

“I can be  _ all in _ if you want me to,” was Galo's witty reply, complemented nicely with a sly smirk, but the moment the words left his mouth, his face exploded into the deepest shade of crimson Lio had ever seen on the man. His cheeks were redder than his uniform as he rapidly attempted to explain himself. “I- I- I- I am so sorry, I  _ totally  _ did not think that through at all and I  _ know  _ we just talked about th- oh, my god, Lio I am  _ so  _ sorry- I know it’s way too early for that kind of- Would you believe me if I said I didn’t mean it in a dirty way??”

Lio was biting his lip, seeming struggling to breathe, but before Galo could consider that he had seriously upset the man, he burst out into laughter. Loud and boisterous. It rang in his head like the ocean rings in a shell, it was as comforting as a campfire. Galo thought for sure he could die being wrapped up in Lio’s laugh and he would leave this life a fulfilled man. Lio fell forward into him in a clumsy hug, clinging to him in joy as opposed to sadness.

“Don’t make fun of me!” Galo protested, but his own laughs betrayed him. Lio’s body shook harder at his weak complaint, Galo felt hiccups and tears run throughout him in unbridled happiness.

Lio may not have said that he loved him, and maybe - Galo thought to himself - that he never would, but that was okay. Seeing Lio like this, truly happy and losing it over a low-brow dirty joke, it filled the space around them with light. 

And that was enough for Galo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lio: This flower smells so nice.  
> Galo: I wish I was that rose.  
> Lio: What?  
> Galo: I said your face looks gross.


	14. Moon Will Sing

Lio at first tried hard to fall asleep. He lay there with his eyes closed and breath steady like he could trick himself into thinking he already was slumbering. But once he was assured by Galo’s gentle snoring that the other was out cold, he didn’t bother to pretend anymore. The pillow in between them was hardly a barrier. Galo clung onto it as soon as he fell unconscious and had it so squashed in his arms so tightly that Lio was free to run his hands wherever he pleased without anything coming between them. Over his arms, through his hair… He rested on his hand though, stroking his thumb over the top of his skin for what seemed like hours. It helped keep him steady and present as he mulled over everything he knew. 

Lio organized his thoughts in comfortable silence, and by the next morning, everyone got a glimpse through the keyhole at the conclusion Lio had found behind the door. 

The truth was that Ellias loved his sister and himself, and that was about it.

_“As painful as this is for me to say, I had known my brother as a caring, loyal soul who would do anything for his family. Unfortunately, I was made ignorant by my grief, and I have come to learn that he was not like that to everyone. With the evidence placed in front of me as it has been from multiple sources I cannot ignore the facts. I so wanted Ellias to be the good person I knew him as, that he was to me, that I thought all other accounts of him were falsehoods. I ask that, to whomever is reading this, that you imagine finding that the closest person you have to your heart is someone completely different in their entirety. Imagine this and know how impossible it is to fathom and how deep my heart breaks._

_“However this does not render me guiltless. I extend my most shameful apologies to Lio Fotia, who I have hurt and slandered needlessly. I can only hope that he is a better person than I, and that he accepts my remorse as the truth that it is. I may not be able to undo the damage I have done, but I know he understands the pain of decisions that we can’t take back._

_“As for the legal issues that have become public concern, Lio and I will continue to work behind closed doors to find resolution. I ask for the consideration and privacy that both him and I need in order to settle these matters. Thank you.”_

“And she deleted _everything!_ ” Lucia whined, throwing herself down dramatically on her rolling chair. The wheels scooted sadly across the Bruning Rescue break room. “God, how _boring_! I was hoping this all would climax in you throwing a chair or something at her in a courthouse, Lio!”

Lio hid his bemused smile behind the paperwork he inspected. “So sorry to disappoint, Ms. Fex, but I doubt that would’ve happened anyways. Do you really find me to be so barbaric?” 

Remi piped up from his spot on the couch, Aina’s legs thrown over his lap without care as she scrolled through _very important_ cat videos. “It’s not like it matters much that she deleted it all. I’m sure hundreds of screenshots exist. Nothing is ever really erased online.” Then, as if he remembered who he was talking to, he adjusted his glasses and added, “I did delete all the posts I made, per instructed, Fotia.”

“Way to be reassuring there, boss,” Aina sang in a whisper. She quickly pretended to have said nothing when faced with the scowl Remi gave her.

“Yes, well, nothing much I can do about that, I suppose,” Lio spoke, stacking up the last of the papers from the table. “I think I have everything we left behind yesterday.” 

“You sure?” Galo asked, circling the room’s perimeter. “Nothing on the floor?”

“If there’s anything, we’ll notice it and let you know,” Aina said. “Where are you guys heading off to?”

“Meis and Gueira’s,” Galo answered. Lucia grimaced, but it was unnoticed by the other two crewmates. 

Starting on their leave, Aina called after them, “Tell them I said ‘hi!’”

“Ah, wait! Lio!” Lio turned back, bag full of papers slung over his shoulder. Lucia had shot from her chair quick enough to cause it to spin slowly on it’s own. The eyes of the room watched her curiously. “I’m sorry.” She got out the words in a hurry, looking sheepish a moment later. “About yesterday. I’m sorry.”

The quiet between them was brief enough that Remi and Aina could only turn to look at Lio before he answered. “It’s okay. She’s shut up at least. So it worked, didn’t it?” 

“Yeah, but-”

“Everything worked out in the end, so it’s fine,” Lio said with a noncommittal shrug. “But thank you. For the apology.”

Lucia nodded blankly. Galo felt she still looked a bit guilty, but the thought and expression was quickly dashed away when Lio tossed a final sentence over his shoulder. 

“You can make it up to me by giving me at least half of your candy supply.”

Lucia sputters, embarrassedly flustered. “ _What!?_ Not a chance in _hell,_ Fotia! _”_

The man didn’t acknowledge her protests, seemingly deaf to Lucia’s calls for attention as he strode out. “I’ll be looking forward to my snacks next time I arrive!”

“That’s _completely_ too cruel and unusual of a punishment! Hey! Are listening?! Lio!!”

Once outside, Galo asked with a chuckle,“Do you even know what kinda of weird stuff she has in that stash of her’s?” 

“Of course, I’ve been swiping from it for months. She still thinks it’s that pet of her’s.”

Galo’s snickering rose and fell flat into the sidewalk in one smooth motion. Their footsteps came to a halt together in front of Aleka, bundled up despite the fact that the weather was getting increasingly warm as they strayed further away from spring and moved closer to summer. She wore a hat, a scarf, and an oversized shirt. The material of everything was thin and hung loosely, more decorative than functional. The silk scarf may even be cooling in the bright patches of sun, but Galo could tell this wasn’t an effort to be fashionable, or even to be unseasonable temperate, but rather to move about unseen.

“Well, you just have an awful habit of showing up out of nowhere, don’t you?” Lio scoffed roughly. The woman looked even more downtrodden at the remark. 

“I was hoping to find you here,” she said to Lio, eyes downcast. “I really didn’t want to have to show up at your apartment unannounced.”

Lio’s eyes narrowed. 

“I just wanted to let you know that I put a statement out on Twitter-”

“Yes, I saw. And deleted everything on your account, but I’m sure you know as well as I do that nothing is ever really deleted online.” Galo casted a side-long, curious glance at the other at the near ver-batim comment.

“I know,” she said dolefully.

“And I’m sure you also saw the replies to your post that were still pretty agro?” Galo mentioned.

“Yes, I did,” she replied. “I know that it really doesn’t change anything. That’s why I wanted to see you. I wanted to give you this.” 

She dug into her bag, a faded pastel pink messenger. Lio stared hard at it, seemingly confused. Galo braced himself in case he needed to think quickly to get Lio out of harm’s way. He nearly shoved the man to the side when she pulled out a black rectangle before he recognized it as an external harddrive as opposed to some sort of bomb.

She offered it to Lio. “Here.”

“What is it?” he asked, making no move to take it.

“You remember how Ellias got that new laptop? Right before…”

Lio looked away, expression blank. “Yes.”

“Well, you know how he is- was.” She coughed, clearing her throat for a moment as she blinked rapidly. “...Always prepared. He kept the old one and backup drives in that shitty basement. ‘Just in case,’ as he would say. Pretty much everything down there made it out okay. You know, if you don’t count the lead paint flakes and asbestos that coated everything.”

Lio gave a single laugh, quick to erase it with a grimace. “That whole place was a health hazard.”

“The whole of Detroit was a health hazard,” she said with a nervous chuckle. 

“I heard it’s doing much better now.”

Aleka shook her head. “I wouldn’t know. I got out of there as soon as I could.”

Lio nodded, gaze falling back to the drive.

Aleka nodded back pensively. “Anyway, the laptop had a mechanical heart attack and died a few years ago, but I had put everything on it on this. I wanted to give it to you as a symbol of good faith.” Once more she stretched out a bit to offer the drive to Lio. This time, he accepted. “I know you don’t have reason to believe me, but it’s the only one. Everything on there is the only copy.” Then, quieter, as if she didn’t want to be heard, she said, “I thought you’d feel better having it. You can do what you want with it all.”

Lio regarded the drive with furrowed brows and a cautious look for a few moments before slipping it into his bag. “...Thank you.”

“Oh, and here-” Aleka pulled a scrap of paper out of her pocket and jabbed it in his direction. Lio jumped a bit at the sudden movement as did Galo, arm already moving to shield the other. She pulled back a bit, embarrassed. “Um, it’s my number. I do want to talk about… the, uh, case-thing more. I’d understand if you didn’t want to do that right away, but…” She trailed off, worrying her bottom lip and squinting at the sidewalk. When he took the paper from her she took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Anyway. I’m going to go now, I guess. Um. So.”

She shifted her strap around her shoulder, drawing Lio’s attention back to the bag. “You still have that?”

“Huh?” She was confused at first, then it dawned on her. “Oh! Oh, yeah, the bag?” She laughed nervously, finding herself a bit abashed. “That’s right, you got this for me, didn’t you?”

Galo looked back at Lio, surprised. 

“Well, not me really. I didn’t have money,” he explained, though it was uncertain whether it was directed at Aleka or Galo. “But I picked it out. Ellias kept saying you wouldn’t like it because it was so feminine.”

“Please, he’s so ridiculous.” She had said it so joyfully, like she was teasing him in the moment, before she realized what she said. All at once her expression shifted to that of somber dread at her mistake. “Was. Was so ridiculous.” She sighed. “Even when we were kids he would always say I liked or disliked things that, really, only he liked. Used to make me so mad, like he just couldn’t understand that someone would like something he didn’t. That sort of ‘well, I find it stupid so surely other people must too’ thing started a lot of arguments when we were little.”

Lio gave her a small smile, but from Galo’s viewpoint it looked pained. “Yeah…”

She rubbed up her own arm anxiously. “Well. Okay then. I hope you think about it, at least. Calling me. Maybe we can figure something out, but… I know I…” Another deep, shaky breath. “Okay. Anyway. Um, good bye.” 

She lifted her hand a bit, as if to wave before thinking better of it and allowing her arm to fall loosely back at her side. She took a few steps back, and Galo wondered if she would say anything more, but in the end she averted her eyes and turned away. She walked off without a glance back.

Lio watched her go. He said nothing, paper still clenched in his grasp as if forgotten. He stared into the crowd long after she disappeared. Only when Galo swung an arm around his shoulder and pulled him tight against him with a little shake did he stir.

“You okay?”

Lio nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Then, he took a moment to think about it, suddenly unsure. “That was… I don’t know what that was yet, actually.”

“Let me know when you do, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” He looked up at Galo, slowly brightening, like clear skies appearing behind shifting clouds. “Thank you.”

\---

Gueira and Lio stared at each other from across the table. Gueira had a sour look on his face as if he were a moody teen who’s attitude was only being worsened by his mother’s latest boyfriend trying to bond with him. Lio sat there awkwardly, patiently awaiting for his steaming mug of tea to cool down.

“Gueira, I apologise-”

“For what.” Gueira cut in. “Do you even know what you’re saying ‘sorry’ for?”

Lio stumbled, slightly annoyed. Why did people keep asking him that? “You… You’re mad at me.”

“No.”

Lio’s frown pinched further, unconvinced. He certainly _looked_ angry. “You’re… sad at me?”

Guirea blinked, bewildered. “I’m… what? What did you say?”

“Forget it,” Lio said with an embarrassed eyeroll. “It’s a Galo-ism, apparently.”

“Oh, something stupid then.”

“With every hour that passes with him it becomes harder to tell if that man is a genius or a fool.” He took a tentative sip of his tea, then another when he deemed the temperature satisfactory. “Well? Why are you glaring at me like that if you’re not angry at me? You look like I just spoiled a show you were going to watch.”

Gueira’s glare strengthened. “Why did you never tell us you didn’t want to be Burnish?”

“It never came up-”

“Bullshit.” Gueira snapped. “That’s a piss-poor excuse and you know it. You always made it sound like you were so proud to be Burnish.”

“And I _am,_ ” Lio insisted. “And I was. It was just for a little while at the very beginning. My life was hard enough; I didn’t _want_ any more trouble piled onto it.”

“Were you scared?” Gueira asked point-blank. 

Lio opened his mouth to answer, but his words were stolen from him before he could properly give them a voice. Guiera’s interjection kicked him right in the stomach.

“You are not our leader any more.” Gueira had said it with a look as sharp as glass, but it fell away to something just slightly softer once he saw the depth of the cut it left behind. “You’ll always be Boss to me and I can’t tell ya how thankful I am to have met you - Me an’ Meis would’ve never made it out alive if it hadn’t been for you - but we’re not Burnish anymore.” 

He unfolded his crossed arms, scooting forward in his chair as Lio stared into his mug in misery. Guiera folded his hands on the table, fingers fidgeting together as he went on.

“So, I don’t want you to answer me like our leader. I don’t want you to give me some strong-front bullshit like you have to raise morale and single-handedly give us all hope or whatever.” Upon seeing that the other had yet to meet his eye, Gueira said his name. It took only one call for Lio to look back up at him, trying and failing miserably to conceal his pained expression. “I don’t want you to answer me like my boss. I want you to answer me like my friend.”

Lio hesitated. He took another long sip of tea to stall for time. When he was able to pull the mug away, he answered - stepping out from behind the heavy curtain. “I was terrified.”

Gueira nodded solemnly, tension in his posture relaxing.

“I knew that I was in so much trouble... and I was so confused. I didn’t have a clue what to do and it was so, _so_ loud.” His grip tightened around the coffee cup. “I knew that if I was caught I’d be taken away to god knows where, even if I hadn’t done anything wrong. I hadn’t the faintest idea of what was really happening to me or _why._ I didn’t have any money or anywhere to go and I spent the first few days without any shoes, for god’s sakes. It just felt like I was being punished _again_ and I couldn’t work out what I had done to deserve any of it even though I _must’ve_ done something and I just wanted _to die._ ”

Lio physically jumped in his chair, startled that he had even said the words out loud. He tried to take them back but he couldn’t make a sound.

“You wanted to die?” Guiera echoed back at him, voice softer than Lio had ever heard it go. 

“I… I-”

“Did you ever try? To kill yourself?”

Lio bit the corner of his lip hard, a shaky hand floating up to head only to end up aimlessly brushing his hair behind his ear. “No.”

“Are you lying to me?”

Lio shook his head. “I’m not. I swear it. I just…” Lio hands went up, falling heavy onto the tabletop less than a second later. “I just didn’t want to exist anymore. I didn’t care how. Like if a car sped up while I was crossing and just wiped me off the face of the Earth, or if I let out a deep-enough breath and just disappeared. I just…”

Lio didn’t know what sort of expression Gueira wore - whether it be one of pity or great sorrow, he couldn’t bear to look up and face that, not until he reassured him.

“That was all before I figured out what I could do - what the Flames could do. I thought I was just as helpless and weak as before, but once I discovered how wrong I was- I realised I wasn’t being punished. It felt-”

“Like a reward.” Gueira finished dryly. 

“Yeah,” Lio breathed, relieved at being understood. “A reward.”

“Like it was your prize for tolerating all the shit you had to put up with. Something in the universe recognized that you had an unfair shot and finally gave you an advantage to work with. ‘Hey, kid! Sorry for all that mess before! I’ll give ya some _fire hands_ to make up for it!’”

Lio scoffed out a laugh. “Sounds about right, yeah.” Finally, he was able to face the other man. He saw a smile, but it covered the underlying tribulation as well as a thin coat of paint over some hideous wallpaper.

“I don’t know you, Lio.”

“Of course you do-”

“No,” Gueira insisted, strongly. “I don’t. No one does. You made sure of it. You keep your cards so close to your chest I don’t think you even know what’s on them anymore.”

Lio, ashamed and cornered, knew that he was right. “I’m… I’m sorry. I’m sorry for doing that.”

Guiera leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, almost smug about it. “That’s the apology I wanted.”

“I’m trying to be better,” he told him. “Trying to be more-”

“Vulnerable?”

“ _Honest_ ,” Lio corrected, arching an eyebrow. “But I suppose that’s the same thing, in a way.” Gueira made a noise of vague agreement. “So. Are we… okay now?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

Lio blinked. “Sorry?”

“Your favorite color. What is it?”

“What does that have-”

“What’s my favorite color?” he said, looking at the other expectedly. “You know it, don’t you?”

Lio huffed. He did; it was the blue in Meis’ armor.

“So why is it that you know that about me but I don’t know that about you?” 

“You’re so obnoxious.”

Guiera’s voice broke into a teasing cackle. “I’m just helping you _‘be better!’_ Tell me what your favorite color is!”

Lio shook his head, but Gueira could see the small smile fighting to be known. “I haven't really put much thought into it before, but recently I’m finding my favourite colour to be-”

A thud interrupted them. The sound came from beyond the front door and was followed by some muffled voices and the jangle of keys. 

“-behind that door.” Lio finished. He rested his elbow on the table and propped his head up on his hand. “Back from helping _your_ favourite with the laundry.”

“Ugh, are you really such a sap?” Guiera groaned. “You can go back to being a secretive little shit if you are gonna be like _that_.”

“Please, Meis has told me all about how sickeningly romantic you are.” 

Gueira made a gagging sound as he rose to his feet. “What a snitch.” 

Guiera made it to the front and threw open the without much preamble, immediately jumping into mock-bullying Meis on how he struggled to get it open. Lio watched as Meis countered by shaking the very full basket of clothes in his hands while Galo whined about how he _said_ he would carry both baskets for them for Meis apparently took offense to it and wouldn’t take the help.

A pleasant sense of contentment fell over Lio at watching the light squabble, like the heavy feel of Galo’s jacket. There was something terribly domestic about the scene in front of him, watching the people closest to him argue over nothing without an ounce of severity. There was no timer they needed to consider or ‘what ifs’ to juggle. There was no need for a Plan B due to the lack of need for a Plan A. For the first time in a long while, it was calm.

“I think I’ll be moving out.” Despite his casual tone, Lio said it loud enough to capture everyone’s attention. 

“What?” was Meis reply right before he whipped around to interrogate Gueira. “I _thought_ you said you two would make up!”

“I thought we did!” Gueira protested.

“It has nothing to do with that,” he interjected gently. “I’m sure you two have begun to enjoy your privacy.” The generals both started up again but Lio refused to make room for their arguments. “ _And_ _I_ would like to move in with my boyfriend.” Through the sudden silence, Lio cast a look over to Galo’s stunned face. “That is, if that’s okay with him.”

Galo was like a party popper, audibly exploding with joy, practically dancing over to Lio, scooping him up in his arms and spinning around, shouting out happy nonsense.

He halted, oblivious to Meis and Guiera fluttering around as if there were afraid Galo was going to drop the man in his arms. “Wait,” he said, anxious expression quickly taking over his features. “You _do_ mean me, right?”

Lio let out a long and deep exhale through his nose. Closing his eyes, he gave Galo a serene smile. “Words cannot describe how much I regret this already.”

“Don’t say _thhaaatt-!_ ” Galo complained. Lio’s hand caught his face, grabbing ahold of his cheeks and squeezing until his lips puckered like a surprised fish. 

“Of course I mean you, you idiot,” Lio scolded, shaking his head a little. “Who else would I be talking about? We’re barely in this relationship and you are already thinking I’m seeing someone else?”

Galo’s eyes overfilled with so much joy they practically shimmered with light. “Yoush wanna be in a relanshunsip width me??”

Lio released his grip with a joking grin. “If you make me say it again, I'll change my mind.”

\---

Later in the night, Lio emerged from his bedroom ( _‘Soon to be his_ old _bedroom!’_ Galo thought excitedly). He had been half packing, half typing away at his laptop last Galo had checked. 

“Hey!” he greeted cheerfully from his station in the kitchen. “Meis and Guiera went to get some missing stuff for your awesome last supper as their roomie! I’m just doing some prep stuff to keep busy.”

Lio nodded, eyes on the tall pot on the stove. The lid shook slightly with the steam. 

“Are you all packed up already?”

“What’s in there?” Lio asked. 

Galo turned back to the stove. “Oh, nothing right now!” Lio had moved to investigate for himself, lifting the lid to peer in at the rolling water as Galo brought his attention back to peeling potatoes into the sink. “We were about to start when we realized how much we were missing so they ran out and I’m just watching it now to make sure it doesn’t boil over-”

A small splash and the soft clang of the lid had Galo looking back over. Lio’s hand still had a hold of the top handle.

“...Lio?”

“Hmm?”

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

“I thought I heard-” It’s then, now upclose, that he noticed Lio’s redden eyes and blotched face. He dropped his task, wiping his hands on a spare apron he found hastily. “Lio, are you alright? You look like-” He cut off when the other man embraced him, squeezing him tightly. Galo was confused, but he returned the hug lightly. “Lio, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he replied. “I wasn’t, but I’m fine now.”

“O-Okay?”

“I’m so happy to be here now. With you and everyone else.”

Galo pulled the other away, hands on his shoulders. “Lio, seriously. What happened?”

Lio met his eye and though he did look like he had been crying a couple minutes ago he wasn’t at the moment. His voice was clear and he didn’t so much as sniff as he spoke. “I was upset, but now it’s taken care of.”

Galo grimaced, even more puzzled. “Okay, don’t say such cryptic shit to me. You’re really starting to freak me out-”

“I’m sorry,” Lio interrupted quickly. “I know and I’m sorry. I promise you I am going to be more open from now on. I’m not going to keep things from you or Meis or Gueria anymore. I promise.”

Galo nodded. Lio’s tone had shifted back into a more human, grounded place with his apology, no longer floating up in that odd spot of partial dissociation that was making Galo uncomfortable.

Lio’s hands found his own, pulling them down off his shoulders and into his grasp. Burning gems of amethyst fire looked back at him. “But I need you to allow me this one last thing. It’s the last thing I want to keep to myself. _Do_ _not_ ask me about it, Galo. Please.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about though-”

“ _Please,_ Galo. I need you to swear to me you won’t ask about it. You won’t ask me what I saw, you won’t ask why I won’t talk about it, you won’t even mention that it existed. You won’t tell anyone else about it. _Please_ , Galo.”

“But I don’t even know what-”

“I want to move on.” Lio grip tightened, raw determination flashing in his eyes. “Please. I trust you.” Galo’s breath caught in his throat. “One last time... let me be selfish, alright? I promise I’ll deal with it on my own terms in the far future, but I need to know that I won't be ambushed with it outside of that so _please_ just promise me.”

Galo hesitated, thinking it over. “You aren’t going to hurt yourself, are you? This isn’t some weird mysterious goodbye thing, is it?”

Despite the nature of the question, Lio’s expression seemed almost relieved. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Because if you do something-”

“I won’t.”

Galo eyed him suspiciously. “If I do this, you’ll keep going to the therapist?”

Lio nodded easily, apparently finding the trade-off worthy.

A few moments of tense silence passed between them, before Galo conceded with a giant sigh. “Okay, I promise.”

“You do? You’ll never ask me about it?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Or tell anyone else?”

“No, but I still don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“But you still promise?”

Another sigh. “...Yes, I swear to you all those things, Lio.”

The other man smiled brightly, Galo was almost taken aback by the level of alleviation his words had. “Thank you, Galo.” He reached up to the taller’s collar, tugging it lightly until he could place a gentle peck on the side of his mouth. “I’m going to finish up packing what I can for today. Thank you for… humoring me, I suppose.”

With that, he pulled away, heading off back to his ( _‘soon to be,’_ Galo reminded himself) old room. When the door closed behind him, Galo straightened up, allowing himself to feel the full weight of the conversation on his shoulders.

 _‘What in the actual hell was that?’_ he wondered harshly. He looked back at the still boiling pot. He lifted the lid to see the rolling boil obscure something dark that most certainly wasn’t in there before. He flicked the heat off and scooted the tall pot to the other side of the stove. He grabbed the closest thing available to try to fish it out, but the long spatula only really served to scrape it along the edges. Some searching later and he managed to find some tongs and after a few frustrating attempts, he managed to grab and flip the object out onto the counter with a wet slap and Galo came face-to-face with the bloated and drowned remains of the external harddrive.

\---

“Thank you for calling me. I was beginning to think that you wouldn’t.”

Lio hummed noncommittally into his phone.

“But I received word from your, ah, lawyer that you were pausing the case so I held out some hope.”

Lio hummed again, a simple acknowledgement that he was hearing her.

“And now, here you are... Calling me…”

Perched on Galo’s and his now shared bed, foot tapping on the ground impatiently, Lio was otherwise silent. It matched the sounds of the empty apartment around him as Galo was back on shift at Burning Rescue. Though he was going to be home in time for dinner that night, he had been working overtime to make up for the time he took off helping Lio move in and getting through paperwork involving his money and apparent marriage. The moving only took a day, the annulment and funds had taken a week to address.

“Is there… A specific reason you called me or…?”

“What do you _want_ , Aleka?” Lio asked. It had been a while since he last said it, but the burn felt fresh on his tongue. “Honestly. Tell me what all this was for. I want nothing but the straight-forward truth of it all - no less.”

The woman deflated on the other line, taking several seconds to think over what she was going to say.

“I… I wasn’t _relying_ on Ellias,” she began. “Really I wasn’t. As you know, I was going to school full-time and I had a part-time job to cover some of the cost - I was able to get some scholarship funds but it was never enough. You know how it is.”

“I really dont.”

“...Right... Well... I was doing okay... considering. But a large reason for that was what Ellias was giving me. He said that our parents would’ve helped me out and so he wanted to do the same. He told me it was all from his job and it wasn’t an astronomical amount or anything. Just a couple hundred every month to help out with food and things. I actually saved most of it. You know, for emergencies. …Then the emergency happened.

“When… When Ellias-” Aleka paused. Lio briefly wondered if she had muted herself until she started back up. “After it all happened, I had nothing. I had no family left, no home to go to when the dorms closed, and the only thing I had was the money in my account and I used pretty much everything for the cheapest funeral arrangements that I could - I didn’t have any other choice. Life insurance was supposed to help pay for that but I couldn’t access it at all.”

Lio felt the hole in his stomach grow. He hadn’t considered that aspect.

“Between the stress and the _grief_ I just couldn’t- I wound up having to choose between my job and my classes, and so I had to scrape until I graduated on my loan money and I couldn’t get another loan because I had no one to co-sign. When I finally managed to graduate, I couldn’t get a job anywhere in my field and then the loan payments started rolling in… I barely had a chance to catch up and I got so behind.

“The insurance was going to make things okay. I could get his ashes interred somewhere nice - He sacrificed _so much_ to keep a roof over our heads and I thought it was the very least I could do and I felt so shitty for only being able to do the bare minimum. And I could use it to pay off my loan, maybe rent somewhere or put a down payment on something - I could finally _breathe_ for once. Just for a little while. But then you showed up again.”

“Without Galo and I showing up none of this would’ve mattered,” Lio reminded harshly. “We’d all be dead.”

“I know,” she said somberly.

Lio wasn’t convinced. “Do you remember that day? When I told you what was happening?”

“You have to understand,” she pleaded. “From my point of view, what you said came out of nowhere. It seemed so out of place that it was almost nonsensical.”

Lio gritted his teeth, biting back the urge to hurl the phone at the wall. 

“Ellias had told me you were sick - mentally sick and he said that he loved you, but-”

“ _Don’t._ ” Lio hissed. “Don’t say that to me.”

Aleka was quiet for a moment, slowly starting to speak again much in the same manner one starts a steep descent, treading carefully as to not pick up speed lest they fall. “He would say things to me every now and again. Small things. It didn’t paint you as a horrible person, not outright, but it was enough to doubt your character. I kept telling him that he should get you help if you needed it, but he kept saying that you _were_ getting it and that you were on medication and it was helping-”

“Right, the medication I never took,” Lio spoke bitterly. “Do you have any idea what the street value of Quetiapine is? Do you know what people use it for?”

“Well, I do _now!_ ” she countered, distressed. “I had no idea before! I didn’t even know that’s what you were on-”

“I wasn’t _on_ anything!”

“I know- I’m sorry.” She took in a shallow breath, struggling to calm herself. “I’m sorry. What I mean is that... until all that was sent to me for the case, I had no idea what the specific medication Ellias was talking about was or anything about any sort of treatment. I never asked; it wasn’t my business to. All I knew is what he told me, and what I saw. And what I _saw_ was two people happy together. Why on Earth would I think anything different? He was-”

Aleka choked up on the other line. Lio was quiet, patiently allowing her to regain her composure.

“He was my brother. He was my _family_ and my best friend, and, yeah, he was a real asshole sometimes, but _never_ to this level and it’s not like I ever thought or suspected anything like this of him - I had absolutely no reason to! And then next thing I know is you’ve accused him of something I couldn’t imagine him doing in my wildest _nightmares_ and then you’re gone and he’s dead and all this money I had no idea existed is in your name and I was in the morgue, trying to identify what they could _scrape off_ from what used to be the living room floor - this twisted, melted corpse - as my brother, and I’m _sorry_ , but I did not immediately jump to the conclusion that ‘oh, this must be because he was a drug dealer!’ The idea of him trying to be the Wolf of Woodward Avenue wasn’t among the many thoughts that crossed my mind, okay? I’m sorry. I don’t… What was I supposed to think? How was I supposed to know?”

“Because I told you,” Lio reminded sharply. “You were supposed to know because I told you.”

“I- I didn’t…” Another sharp intake of breath. “You were telling me one thing in the moment and he was telling me another for much, much longer. What was I supposed to do?”

A scratching inside Lio’s mind admonished him. _‘Why would she believe you over him?’_

He pushed on regardless. “You could’ve _not_ told him,” he told her sorely. “You could’ve done _anything_ but that.”

Aleka sighed, gradual and slow. “I… I told him because I _thought_ you were having a… a paranoid episode like he said you got.” Every muscle in Lio’s body clenched as he shook, teeth gritted so hard he feared they may splinter apart. “I told him because I _thought_ whatever you were taking, whatever you were doing wasn’t _working_ and you needed _help_. Okay? I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“You sounded very accusatory to be trying to _help,_ ” Lio managed to bite out. 

“That’s… That’s not how I remember it…”

“Well, that's how I remember it! I was there!”

“And I was there too!” 

A sudden silence punctured their conversation, until Aleka’s forced laugh twisted the knife in deeper.

“It’s funny... The only person who could break this tie was the only other person there. And as it turns out he was a _fucking_ _liar._ ” Another stinging laugh left her, quickly dissolving into something more strangled, quiet and miserable. “I don’t- I don’t know what I’m supposed to… I don’t know. I just don’t…”

She trailed off, and Lio took the opportunity to speak again. “Why didn’t you just tell them I was a classified terrorist? Everyone knows that much and forgiven or not surely that would’ve been enough of a ‘crime’ to contend the money’s placement or something.”

“I _tried_ ,” Aleka insisted. “For two years I tried, but in the end they concluded that when the Burnish were pardoned from all crimes committed as Burnish it included _all_ of them - they told me I couldn’t contest anything because of the clean slate, not even for Ellias. According to the police, the case had been closed along with it. That was devastating enough, but then they told me that there wasn’t any motivation to re-open it-”

“Unless you got enough public outrage on your side?”

She fell silent once more. Lio liked to believe it was out of guilt.

“You- You really hurt more than me with that, you know. The entire Bunish effort has been lobbed off at the knees.”

“I really tried to keep them out of it. I never wanted to hurt anyone that wasn’t involved; that really wasn’t my intention-”

“I don’t care what your intention _was!_ ” Lio snapped. “I’m telling you what _happened_ regardless of what you _meant_ to do!”

“...I- ...I don’t know if I can fix that.” Lio let himself fall back onto the bed, frustration nearly boiling over. “I’m not trying to make excuses, I’m just trying to explain myself, but… I know... I’m sorry...”

“How much do you owe?” he asked with a huff, glaring at the ceiling.

“...What?”

“Your loan. How much is left.”

“...I got it down to fifty-thousand now…”

Lio closed his eyes, trying to visualize his plan. “You were going into fashion or something, right? Is that what you ended up with?”

“Buying and merchandising, yeah....”

“Okay.” He sat back up, staring evenly at the space in front of him, as if he were looking at her dead in the eyes. “I will give you enough to cover your loans and maybe a small amount more to do whatever you want with.”

Aleka stammered, beginning to protest. “Oh, Lio, I-”

“But you have to leave.” The demand silenced her. “It doesn’t really matter where, as long as it is not _here._ I want you to make it so, in all likelihood, I - or anyone else I may know here - will never see you again.”

She hesitated to answer, but Lio didn’t give her much time to speak anyways.

“And if you don’t know where you might go, I may have another offer for you.”

\---

“-and that’s pretty much my day.” Galo finished up.

“Sounds productive.”

“I guess. I still would’ve gotten a lot more done had those idiots kids hadn’t pulled the alarm. Real ‘It’s just a prank, bro!’ types. So obnoxious.”

Lio chuckled lightly. Galo’s whole day had taken up the entirety of their dinner conversation and well into the clean-up. Not that Lio was complaining.

“How ‘bout you?” he asked, taking the wet pan he was handed to dry. “Did you get some more things done today?”

Lio shrugged, flicking soap suds off his hands back into the sink. “I talked to Clarissa today.”

“Clarissa…” Galo repeated to himself, trying to place the name.

“My old classmate. Your lieutenant said she was trying to reach me, remember?”

“Oh, yeah! How is she then?”

“She’s fine,” he answered, pulling up the sink plug. “Lonely, apparently. Her old friends she had pretty much our entire childhood have all turned into, by her own words: ‘dreadful little tarts.’”

Galo stifled a laugh.

“Her little group used to move around like a pack of wolves, I swear. But now she’s got her own line of high-end apparel stores and it sounds like she actually enjoys the hard work and her old friends found that to be all too terribly boring for them.”

“Sounds like you two may have something in common,” Galo commented with a playful nudge.

Lio gave him a small smile. “Yes, well. She felt bad that she didn’t realise as much back when we were in school.”

Galo paused in his drying efforts, confused. “Was she mean to you?”

Lio shrugged. “She was a bit mean to everyone - nothing horrifically damaging or anything like that, but she certainly didn’t value kindness over her wants. She was just that type. Spoiled, I guess. Thought she knew well enough already. Typical teenage things.” He held a hand out for the pan, deciding that it was dry enough. After Galo handed it over, Lio stooped down to put it back in the right cabinet. “She honestly wasn’t all that more insufferable than anyone else by any means, but she still felt horrid about it. She asked if there was anything she could do to make it up to me.”

“Lemme guess,” Galo spoke with a sigh. He gathered up the leftovers from their dinner in his arms, having already been packed away in random containers. He opened up the fridge, straining to find a space for them between a series of takeout boxes. “You said something ridiculously self-sacrificing like _‘you don’t need to do anything for meeee’_ or something.”

“No, I’m sending her Aleka.”

Galo startled and his head hit the overhang of the fridge. He swore, pulling back to look back at the other in bewilderment. “I’m sorry, _what?_ ”

Lio stood up, arms folding over as he met Galo’s eye. His expression read that he wouldn’t be challenged on his decision. “She wanted a way to make it up to me, as did Aleka. She has a degree in the field of fashion and marketing, and Clarissa needed the help and company. I told her that I’d pay off her student loans if she went to England for the job and now I won’t ever have to worry about seeing her again. It’s basically a benefit for me all around.”

Galo blinked. “So, you pretty much made her an offer she couldn’t refuse so that you could ship her to a different country?”

“Yes, and it’s the oddest thing, but I swear I heard of a strangely similar story once...” Lio said with an air of mock pondering.

Galo winced. “I mean… it’s a little different from your case, but-”

“What?” Lio asked sharply. “Do you think it’s too cruel of me?”

“Cruel?” Galo squawked. “You’re paying off her debt and you’re giving her a job! I think you’re being too nice!”

Lio’s haughty expression dropped into one bordering on remorse. “...I suppose I just feel like it’s cruel,” he murmured, squeezing his crossed arms tighter. “When I talked to her I got the sense that she really wanted to repair things, but I just want her away from me.”

“Well… that’s okay?”

“Is it?”

“Yeah,” he reassured. “You really don’t owe anyone forgiveness when they’ve hurt you so bad - no matter how sorry they actually are. If ‘sorry’ was a magic word that just fixed everything, people would just do anything they wanted ‘cause they always got a clean slate! But they don’t do that ‘cause, you know, _most_ people know that there are some things that permanently fucks things up.”

Lio stepped into Galo’s space with a chuckle, weakly bumping his head into his chest.

“You’ve got a strange way of expressing wisdom, Thymos.”

He wrapped his arms around the other, letting his own head rest against the top of Lio’s soft hair. 

“You know you love it though.” he replied, placing a kiss on the crown of his head. “When did you talk to her?”

“Today.” The answer was muffled against Galo’s shirt before he craned his head to look up at the other. “Are you upset that I left you out of it?”

“No, Lio. I’m not gonna tell you what to do with your life or money or whatever, I just want you to be… you know, kind to yourself when you decide on things.”

Lio pulled away, seeming unsure.

“Do you feel guilty about leaving me out of it?”

“No,” Lio responded honestly. “But I think I feel… guilty about not feeling guilty.” Galo opened his mouth to speak, but Lio was faster. “-And! And… I kept thinking.”

Galo waited patiently, careful not to interject.

“I kept thinking about all the things I’ve done.” His gaze flashed back to Galo, sure he was going to interrupt and protest, but with great effort Galo remained quiet and listening. “I knew a lot of things about my family and how they ran things. I still know. To not come forward now feels dishonest in it’s own right, but even back then I would lie. It wasn’t like Louis Theroux was interviewing me and I was covering up some horrible traffic ring or anything, but all the little things tend to add up.” Lio shrugged. “I just never thought it was too major of an issue and what was I supposed to do? Say ‘no’ when my parents told me what to say? They were my family, why would I do that? Granted, I wasn’t particularly too fond of them towards the end there, but I thought they knew what they were doing better than me at the time.

“So when Aleka told me she had signed those papers because he asked her too, I… I sort of understood. Why would she question it? Why would she refuse? Why _wouldn’t_ she believe him? Maybe she didn’t even know we all were supposed to be in the same room.”

Lio stopped, finished for the moment, and Galo took his turn to speak. “I really don’t read the fine print on everything I agree to - and I’m not planning to start no matter what Remi says - but what she did is a bit more serious than fibbing about the size of proceeds of your parent’s companies go to charity.”

“I know,” Lio admitted, crossing his arms. “But there’s also all the things I’ve done when I was Burnish too. I _was_ doing good and I did help a lot of people but… I know people got hurt. Try as I might, innocent bystanders still got hurt, and I know first hand how difficult it is to stand in front of the people affected and ask for their understanding. So… So I suppose what I mean is that I understand what she did, a bit more. And I suppose that I believe that she is genuine in her remorse, even if she so vehemently believed what she was doing was right.” Lio’s expression took a turn, a scowl making itself known as his eyebrows knitted together. “And yet I’m _still_ unbelievably angry about it. A huge part of me doesn’t _care_ if she had a good reason - I want her gone.”

Galo took the time to rub up and down Lio’s shoulders, the action reminding the man of a mix between how one smoothes wrinkles out in a shirt and how one soothes a growling cat. Begrudgingly, Lio had to admit that it was oddly relaxing.

“I know it’s hypocritical considering how much I _despise_ those shitheel politicians and how selfish I think they are for treating me like I’m nothing but a murderer-arsonist in their eyes despite everything,” Lio went on, slowly but surely becoming more leveled. “But I don’t care. I can’t make myself even pretend to care, I just want her somewhere where I know I’ll never be again. I just want her to leave me alone.”

Galo nodded, pulling Lio into another hug once he was satisfactorily soothed and de-wrinkled. “That doesn’t make you a terrible person, Lio.”

“I’m not sure if I believe you on that.”

“Then I’ll keep saying it until you do believe me,” Galo told him. “I’ll wake you up at all hours of the night to remind you until the only thing you think of when you feel like that is how goddamn annoying you think I am.”

A muffled laugh escaped him, too quick for Lio to stifle properly.

“So? Is she going?” Galo asked, feeling the other man’s shoulders relax. “She leavin’ the States for good?”

“Well,” he began with a content sigh. “I don’t know about the ‘for good’ part.”

\---

By his twenty-sixth, Lio had his name changed back officially. The disappointing news that his marriage couldn’t be annulled without actively pursuing a fraud case was a blow made considerably softer when he got the email saying his funds had been successfully transferred to his new account and thus being able to, right then-and-there, tell a large room full of politicians to go fuck themselves. Strangely, a portion of them seemed even more willingly to work with him afterwards.

Galo had neatly arranged the presents on a table at Burning Rescue - taking the time to wrap the brown box shipped to their address from Clarissa - whose business had flourished even more with the new hire and was enjoying a sudden and steep surge of good press for donating so much of her proceeds to UK Burnish Aid. Her and Lio spoke casually through text and once over a video call a few weeks after their initial conversation. She had asked about the best way to help the Bunish effort then and updated him on how her new ward was doing. She was brief, as she quickly picked up that Lio rather not be told details on the subject.

“I’d just thought I’d let you know that she’s doing fine - better than fine, in fact!” she had told him. “She’s adjusting quickly with my sponsorship - even though her tea making skills are utterly horrendous. Semi-related: you didn’t hear it from me, but she debated telling you where her brother’s ashes' final place was in case you wanted to know. In the end, she decided to not bother you about it.”

“That’s very wise,” Lio responded, smothering the vague discomfort he felt at the topic. He supposed he never would get used to it. “I really don’t care.”

“Are you sure? Because if _I_ were you I’d think I would want to know that, reportedly, they were dumped into the ocean rather carelessly.”

And Lio had to admit that, reportedly, that was news he did want to know about, and the feeling inside him settled a bit more.

As promised, Meis and Guiera got him a new phone and it was indeed a new flagship that could “take pictures in the dark and shit.” His old one was promptly seized from his person before he could even think about arguing.

It was a pleasant gathering, and when Galo and Lio returned to their home Lio had confessed that he had rather enjoyed himself against his expectations.

Hopeful and teasing, Galo asked, “Does that mean I can throw another birthday for you next year?”

“I suppose so,” Lio said with a dramatic sigh, leaning against the man as he hung up their jackets. “On the condition that it is _at least_ another year from now - any sooner than that would be far too exhausting.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

There was nothing between them as they turned in for the night. Lately, Galo had noticed that Lio had even started to fall asleep before him on most nights. He could feel him drifting in his arms even as Galo himself remained wired, a leftover charge from the day’s excitement.

“Hey, Lio.”

“Hmm?” he responded groggily. 

“Happy Birthday.”

“Mmm, yeah…” came the tired reply. Lio yawned and buried himself deeper under the covers. “Thank you…”

Galo felt his breathing shift even more, the valleys and peaks between them growing into high rolling hills.

“Hey, Lio.”

This time, Lio did not stir.

“I love you.”

“Hmm, love you too.”

Galo stiffened, muscles flexed and body tensed as if locking themselves in place - as if they were aware that Galo was seriously considering doing something rash and incredibly stupid like shaking Lio awake and demanding that he repeat himself. It was only with great pain and effort that he forced himself to relax, to melt around the other as his heart swelled and his soul burned. 

He could ask Lio about it tomorrow. For now, for the wonderful moment, it was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love fanfiction.  
> “But it’s fake…”  
> Yeah, well. It makes me feel better.  
> \---  
> TL;DR of this whole thing:
> 
> Lio: Whatever! This doesn’t bother me.
> 
> Narrator: But it did.  
> \---  
> Don't hit that Unsubscribe button just yet! There is a bonus chapter! Well, it won't really be a "chapter," more like a few tidbits of things that didn't make it in. Plus, I'll go over some future plans for maybe more stuff? 
> 
> Thank you all for your support!


	15. Bonus/Notes

((Hello again! Thanks for sticking around! I’m so happy with the response and feedback I’ve gotten from this fic! I never would’ve expected it. Thank you all so much! Here are some tidbits from my “notes” section of my doc.))

\---

Galo: God, Aleka is such a bitch.

Aleka: I really looked up to my brother.

Galo: oh.

Galo: _o h n o_

((I thought of this joke, and the other’s like it, too late to use them in my end notes))

\---

Complicated grief

((A fascinating reference for a fascinating condition))

\---

Lio, younger and dumb: -and nothing can go wrong!

Lio, older and dumb: OH NO IT ALL WENT WRONG

\---

Ellias: Hey babe. Check it, I made notes in your mother’s handwriting, in your father’s handwriting, and the dean of your school’s handwriting. I’m working on some of your teachers too. Now you can do whatever you want, whenever you want!

Lio: Amazing! Wow, my boyfriend is so talented! I’ve never had this much freedom before - he is literally giving me what I always wanted! God, how ever did I get so lucky!!! :)))

Lio, 7 years later: wait a minute.

\---

Lio: You two are like a natural disaster.

Meis & Gueira:

Gueira: Thank yo-

Lio: That wasn’t a compliment.

\---

Slowly, Galo pointed to his dumbfounded face. “Are you talking about me?”

((A line I wrote and then changed in Ch. 13. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to change it back though, so here it went.))

\---

“Stop it! I already told you how I feel about you! Do you have any idea what seeing you do this does to me?! How incredibly painful it is?!”

“I didn’t ask for you to care!”

“Yes you did!”

Don’t leave me

((Unused direction from Ch. 13))

\---

The man offered a sympathetic smile. “When did this happen?”

“Five years ago.” Galo nudged Lio’s arm, silently offering up his hand. Lio took it without a word.

“Right,” the other man said with a breathy laugh. “Sorry, that’s not an answer I’m used to hearing. And what happened?”

“What does it look like happened? My boyfriend tried to kill me.”

“He was attacked,” Meis cut in. Several eyes burned into him, but he pressed on. “Lio fought hard, but he was overpowered. I don’t know if you’ve seen him, but the guy was considerably out of Lio’s weight class.”

“I have seen the body cam videos,” Georgios admitted to Lio. “and I can see that you did fight for your life.”

((Something I wrote for Ch. 12, but ended up not liking where it was leading.))

\---

[ https://www.quantamagazine.org/stem-cells-remember-tissues-past-injuries-20181112/ ](https://www.quantamagazine.org/stem-cells-remember-tissues-past-injuries-20181112/)

((Reference link for Lucia stem cell speech. Not all of the *science* is bullshit!))

\---

Lio: Cluster A - paranoid/schizoid

Galo: Cluster B - Histrionic

((My armchair psychology diagnosis))

\---

Galo sighed, as if he were sorry it had to come to this, before scooping him up in one smooth motion, tossing him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry as if he weighed nothing at all. Lio immediately became a screeching ball of fury, spitting out insults and demands to be released, struggling and pushing to get loose, but it was only a few short strides to Galo room, and once inside Lio was deposited on his bed before making a quick escape. Lio flailed to his feet within seconds but by the time he was halfway to his charge to the door, it was slammed shut and a chair was wedged under the knob. 

((Unused section from Ch. 9. It didn’t mesh well with everything else.)

\---

Apologize 13 times

((I was going to have a part in the frozen lake section in Ch. 8 about Lio pointing out that Galo wouldn’t stop apologizing to him, so I went back and counted how many times Galo actually said “sorry” to Lio up until that point. In the end, I couldn’t make the line fit.))

\---

You didn't slap me you slapped the guy who grabbed your ass without warning

((This was a line I thought up while in bed and wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget. I really didn’t have a place for a scene surrounding this line though.))

\---

Things were awkward since Lio moved in with Galo. Meis and Gueira had insisted upon it, still (they were less than pleased when he jokingly said they were only kicking him out because they had gotten used to having privacy away from him)

((I started a section with these lines before I remembered I had a bunch of content to go through before I wanted to get to the “move-in” point. Then the fic took a few turns and I never got back around to this line in particular.))

\---

Gueira

((My note of Gueira’s name because I kept forgetting how to spell it.))

\---

ARE YOU READY KIDS

*sobbing* please…

I S A I D aRe YoU rEaDy KiDs????

((I think this was going to be an end note at some point.))

\---

Galo apologized nervously. “It’s just- I’m sorry, I don’t want you to blame yourself. I can’t stand it.”

There it was, another sigh. “Galo-”

“No, I mean it,” he pressed. “All I was meaning to say is that- You being a murderer or-” He shook his head, blue locks tossed around rapidly. “Let me start over.”

Galo looked up to gauge his audience and found that Lio was staring at him, unamused. It wasn’t the first time he had looked at him like that and if Galo knew himself, it wouldn’t be the last. Honestly, he counted himself lucky that Lio just hadn’t gotten up and left his ass already.

“I want- I- As much as I _hope_ this all goes away - this ‘trending’ thing - I’m worried that it won’t. And the last thing I would want to happen is for some TV crew or something to corner you and ask you about the ‘allegations’ and for you to turn around and say that they were true, because you are blaming yourself for what happened and then you get thrown in jail for a crime that you were the actual victim of.”

Lio cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing, allowing him to continue.

“If I can’t convince you that you aren’t a murderer, or what you did was in fact self-defense, or that you are _worthy_ of moving on without the guilt you are clearly still feeling, then fine!” Lio looked troubled at that, but it was quickly replaced with a half-lidded stare of incredulousness as Galo squinted at the ceiling and rubbed at his neck pensively and followed up with: “well, no, it’s not fine. That’s not what I meant. But! You know!”

“I’m afraid I really don’t, Galo.”

“Gah!” He cried out, burying his face in his hands. “Why is this so hard to get out in words!” When he straightened back up, he had a new determined glint to his eye. “If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me! And for Guiera and Meis! And all the other Burnish!”

“Do what? I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Say something stupid!” Galo explained loudly. “Don’t say anything stupid that could get you in trouble! I don’t care if you think it’s true! If something happens to you, who will be left to advocate for the Burnish? Do you know how devastated I would be if someone went after you because you said something like ‘yeah I did it and I’d do it again!’”

“I would do it again.”

“I know you would!” he shouted, exhausted. “And I don’t blame you! From what you’ve told me, if the Promare came back tomorrow and warped us to the past, I’d make it my personal life’s mission to kill this guy too! But you ”

((Very early draft from Ch. 2. I wrote and wrote and it got away from me, so I ended up scrapping it and starting the section over.))

\---

Donatus

((Reference for their surname so that I wouldn’t forget or misspell it.))

\---

“Hello?” Lio answered and Galo could hear Meis’ voice reply back before he had even finished, loud through the receiver.

_“Why the fuck are there so many people outside our building?!”_

Lio turned three shades paler. “Oh, god. I-, did they go back?”

 _“What do you mean, ‘go back’?!”_ Meis shouted over the background roar. _“Boss, there’s like a hundred people out here including that psycho-cunt. What the hell happened?! How did they find out where we live?”_

“I don’t know!” Lio stood up to pace away from Galo. “She was just

((I started writing this for Ch. 4 before I remembered what I ACTUALLY wanted to happen in the section before and had to scrap it.))

\---

((Well, that’s it! I’m so glad to hear that you all like my work! Right now, I’m thinking of maybe just one more oneshot… okay, maybe two more oneshots. I wanted to include Lio and Galo _actually_ sleeping together, but it felt too rushed to include it here given the nature of things. So maybe I’ll work on that subject next. 

((In any case, it definitely won’t take as long as this fic to write - which took the entirety of the year thus far. So feel free to keep an eye out for that! I do a lot of writing, but a lot of it doesn’t make it here because it’s incomplete or not fandom related. 

((I honestly haven’t published anything professional or personal in a long while, so I _really_ appreciate all the encouragement and feedback (especially over something so self-indulgent)! It all makes me so happy; thank you so much!

((Until next time! Thank you for reading! I hope you all have wonderful days.))


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